Melanie Feerst

b. 1958 Chicago

Quirky and provocative with an industrial edge, objects from Melanie Feerst Studio are inspired by dark humor, Japanese design and the medical or fetishized body. 

Trained as a sculptor and passionately devoted to process and material exploration, my aesthetic is defined by personal adornment and functional product lines ANGST and STRUCTURE. 

Inspired by the fetishized body, antique porcelain doll parts and medical hardware are transformed into angst-ridden adornments cast in urethane resin.  My evolving practice also embraces 3D laser printing, which provides the means to design custom structural findings in sintered nylon to support fused glass.   

I utilize standard and experimental mold-making, fused glass and foundry techniques developed in my studio, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA), and at the University of Wisconsin at Madison (MFA).  What I find most exciting is the chance to push my work to new heights given the change in scale, the intimacy of adornment and the need to address ergonomics and functionality.

Each piece from Melanie Feerst Studio is one-of-a-kind and handmade in Chicago, Illinois with encouragement from my black lab mix Merlin, who enjoys running away with the prize when you toss a ball to him . . . the very first time.