steve frandsen's Page

STEVEN FRANDSEN
ARTIST STATEMENT

I strive to breathe life back into the dry bones, ruins, and relics of nature and society.
Using imagery and symbolism of ancient cultures with detailed interpretive carving to hint at the story that lies within each piece.
Though my work has a strong Native American influence ( this is my homeland) I consider my work as cross-cultural as I am for all peoples once lived in harmony with the Earth adapting new materials into their art and personal adornment as they encountered them.
Skins and bones, sticks and stones, antlers and horns, feathers and fibers join wood and metal , plastic and paper, cement and glass to become sculpture, collage, mask, ancient tool, or personal adornment.
Transformation, death, fertility, virility, protection, and healing are the subjects of much of my work.
I hold a deep reverence for the mystery and magic that comes with the discovery and use of these many treasures, smudging and secreting a bit of sacred sage in all my work.
Art is a spiritual constant throughout my daily life, dancing, singing, cooking, building, gardening, dreaming, everything.
Inspiration comes from long lost feelings and forgotten rhymes deep within the dark recesses of my anima, rising from eons of latent passion and rage, yet childish whimsy and absurd folly always bring the surprises.
Does my art evoke a response? Disturb, satisfy, confuse, elate, hate, or appreciate?
Then I'm reaching you.
Each piece is one of a kind, the only made through my hands.

TALISMANIC JEWELRY

I create jewelry as devotional talisman to honor and adorn our temple body. My one-of-a-kind designs flow from elegant evening to egregious ethnocentric, each as individual as you.

Trends and current fashions do not influence my designs. Working from 40 years of gathering beads of the world each piece is a dance of texture, light, color, and balance with a rich layering of history, symbolism, and sacred geometry, timeless and always in style. It can take days to exhaust all the possibilities and be satisfied with the finished piece.
I design for both sexes. While most of my work is found on women there are a few men with the self confidence to wear powerful jewelry.

Staring with that first macaroni necklace in kindergarten I’ve burned with a passionate desire for personal ornamentation, bejeweling the women in my life as well as myself. Love beads in the 60’s, turquoise, silver/goldsmith in the 70’s, carved ivory/antler with gems/crystals through the 80’s, to blossom in the 90’s slowly coming to fruition in the 21st century mixing ancient, antique, vintage, and modern beads with carved ivory, antler, stone, silver, and gold into fine body adornment.

Favorite jewelry gets worn a lot and eventually needs repair. All repairs are free. If beads are lost or damaged they will be replaced with the same when possible. Due to the rarity of some items substitutes may be necessary. Periodically inspect your necklace to check for wear, loosening, or broken beads. Most beads are glass and glass is fragile. Do not fold, bend, crumple or pile with other jewelry.

It is my honored pleasure to adorn your sacred temple with this devotional talisman. Thank you for revealing its beauty by reflecting yours . Steven Frandsen