Brandi Couvillion

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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

Couvillion approaches timeless crafts through a contemporary lens. The image transfer etching process she utilizes is a more ecologically conscious, contemporary variation of traditional etching techniques used in the original printing of the very maps she utilizes. Her sculptural jewelry captures the transitory landscapes of history: from Native American portage routes and forgotten swamplands to abandoned asylums whose architectural residue still decorates the streetscape today. From raw sheets of metal, her work transforms into wearable archives in suspension through an intensive, handcrafted process that involves heat image transfers, various etchants, soldering, gilding, patinas and polishes, and hammer forming. The process and the final product aspire to create civic dialogue about an embedded history, and the ebbs and flows of social and physical community infrastructure.

What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

Exploration is a common thread in Couvillion’s sculptural jewelry; using an array of metalworking techniques she captures fleeting aspects of the built and natural landscape. The transitioning of the coastline is represented through her etchings—the etchant salts naturally erode the metal plates over time, shifting the surface and leaving traces of natural oxidation in the patina’s residue. “Confluence” represents a coming or flowing together–a celebration of democracy, inspired by the contours of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers as they flow together cradling our nation's capital. The different chains used evoke the movement of water–the delicate rolo chain represents the silt deposited in the alluvial soil at the river’s delta. Alternatively, the chain in the ""Fluidity” mimics the river’s flow, evoking aquatic sensations and the sultry curves of the river. Couvillion’s visual storytelling creates an intimacy with the natural world as it intertwines with the built environment.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

Couvillion believes being part of a community is acknowledging its history and practicing meaningful engagement with the diversity of its current residents. Her sculptural artistry transcends regular adornment. It has deep meaning, and customers connect through it with their shared histories and place-based stories. By acting as a documentarian she creates jewelry that shares history with the community. As a documentarian creating jewelry that shares history with the community, she continually aspires to keep community at the forefront of the conversation in the nation’s center. Her recent collections incorporate research from historic neighborhoods and use the imagery of architectural details, such as decorative wrought iron and plasterwork, as well as historic maps from the Library of Congress—some dating from as early as the 1700s culled from archives—and make permanent an ephemeral aspect of our cities’ histories.