American jewelry designer Mary Lee Hu

American jewelry designer Mary Lee Hu
Born 1943 in Ohio, Mary Lee Hu wanted to become an artist since elementary school. She graduated from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1965 and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Today, she is a many-awarded American artist, educator and innovative jewelry designer known for using textile techniques in woven wire jewelry. Permanent participant of national and world art, crafts and jewelry exhibitions, her works are exhibited in various museums. In particular, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Arts & Design in New York City, National Museum of American Art in Washington DC, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, etc. Also, her works are in numerous private collections throughout the United States and internationally.
Traditionally, weaving and fabricating her abstract and geometric pieces by hand, Mary Lee Hu used 18 and 22 K gold and silver as textile. According to the designer, she began first exclusive experiments applying fiber techniques to metal in 1966. Noteworthy, that was the time of the Scandinavian dominance of smooth and polished surfaces in metal jewelry. Thus, Mary Hu’s jewelry was the complete opposite of the trend of that time.

American jewelry designer Mary Lee Hu