Peculiar Creature
Rea Rossi uses 3D printing to produce sculptures and jewelry that are almost literally waves of sound turned into physical objects. Through the use of contemporary digital technology, she transmutes this source of inspiration into graceful, arced forms that fold through time and space.
Her work is both sculpture and jewelry, depending on whether it is on the body, or off. The most intriguing aspect of it is its undulating quality. Because the material is a type of polymer, nylon, it is lightweight even when very large. The repetitive nature of its composing elements, along with its bone-white coloration, makes some of her bangles and neckpieces seem like some strange creature's vertebrae, gently curved to cradle one's shoulders, or wrap around one's wrist.
The source for Rea's inspiration is her own relationship with hearing. Partially deaf, sound is something which she experiences through a unique prism of perspective. That sound is a wave itself, a visual shape that most of us can never see yet are aware of nonetheless, is a fascinating topic of exploration. The jewelry she makes is her own process of negotiating that subject, with a twist; as someone who wears a hearing aid, she wants to have access to a way to decorate that object and turn it into a thing of beauty. In that, Rea is a true pioneer.