Ilana Krepchin

Artist
Somerville, MA

My creations combine a sense of fun and purpose with essential interests from my past. As a kid, I wanted to be an architect when I grew up - now I make miniature buildings. I've always been drawn to mathematical concepts - now they inform my art, as in the miniature mobius strips I make. I have been a photographer for many years, accumulating piles of photographs that I could never throw away - now I chop them up and set them or transfer them to silver and etch their likenesses. I always thought that something could be done to recycle used technology - now I take the chips and capacitors from discarded computers, and combine them with sterling silver in traditional jewelry formats. It satisfies my disparate interests, it's fun and it's ecological.

Mobius Strip Necklace
Mobius Strip Necklace
1 1/2"H x 1/2" W x 1/2" D
Sterling Silver and rose gold plate and 1/2 drilled hematite stone
2009

This series was inspired by the mathematical idea of a mobius strip, a geometrical curiosity which has only one surface and one edge. It is often used as a symbol for infinity.