Emiko Oye
San Francisco, California
Curriculum Vitae
Contact Emiko
@emikooreware
Website
Artist Statement
Inspired by haute couture, art history, Mindfulness, New Wave/Pop music and everything Bowie, Emiko Oye creates colorful hand-crafted art jewelry from repurposed LEGO®. She thrives on the challenge of taking what’s familiar and turning it on its head to transform the mundane into a conversation-sparking experience. Using jewelry as a vehicle to tap back into the nostalgic root of childhood, to unearth memory through the tactile. She’s delighted by similarities found in both LEGO® and jewelry: hands-on-story-telling capabilities, increased value with vintage, dedicated collectors, family heirloom. By utilizing an unexpected but universally familiar material such as LEGO® in her jewelry, the onlooker is lured in by his/her own narrative, creating an immediate, personal engagement with the work and likely to share their joyful experience with others.
Material Revelation Exhibit
Bio
Emiko Oye is a Japanese American artist based in San Francisco, CA, whose jewelry and artwork made from repurposed LEGO® have been shown in 100+ exhibitions worldwide, including: solo shows at the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design, Ombré Gallery, NYC Jewelry Week; permanent collections at Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Racine Art Museum. Numerous publications have featured her work, such as American Craft, Metalsmith, The Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Modern Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle. Served as President of the SF Metal Arts Guild, and lectured for notable organizations such as Bard Graduate Center, Dowse Museum of Art, SNAG, NYC Jewelry Week, Miami Ohio Art Museum. LEGO® System in Denmark endorse her as an “Influencer” for young makers. Through her wellness business emikooyoga, she helps women over 40 become Super Agers and learn how to destress, do less and feel vibrant.
Thank you to Hilliard Family Foundation Inc. for sponsoring Material Revelation
