SETH PAPAC

Seth Papac began his studies with Maria Phillips and Mary Lee Hu at the University of Washington, where he received his BFA in 2004. He went on to receive his MFA in 2009 from the Cranbrook Academy of Art where he studied with Iris Eichenberg. Upon his graduation he was awarded the Tobey Devan Lewis Fellowship which recognized his work as the most outstanding in the entire academy.  His work is exhibited internationally in galleries and in such prestigious exhibitions as the Graduate Exhibition at Galerie Marzee in the Netherlands and Schmuck 2010 in Munich, Germany. Seth’s work can be found in numerous publications including Art Jewelry Today 2, and the Compendium Finale of Contemporary Jewelry Makers.  His work is in the permanent collections of The Cranbrook Art Museum, Michigan; The Museum of Contemporary Craft, Oregon; and the Tacoma Art Museum, Washington.

“My interest in jewelry as a medium of art is its site – the body. Much like the function of architecture to house, display and protect paintings and sculpture, the body acts as literal, metaphorical and conceptual structure for jewelry. Placed on this site jewelry acts as a personal signifier of taste, attitude, belief and history.

Currently my work focuses on two distinct conceptual and formal aspects.The formal and compositional focus is targeted at an investigation and interpretation of parures, a term from Old French for a set of various items of matching jewelry, which rose to popularity in early 17th century Europe. Cleverly the parure was modular and could be disassembled into different parts or easily remade to stay fashionable.  An inherent narrative is created through this interchangeability. How do a collection of objects interact? How does this change when the collective group is disassembled? How does this disassembly affect the overall narrative? Jewelry for, about, reflecting on a character provides the conceptual focus of the work. Through materials, processes, color, form and specific constructs of these variables my work describes/reflects upon relationships I have with specific individuals in my life. “