Choker+(No.+38)

Date: 1978
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1985/1985.22_2a.jpg?itok=pv5wJisQ width="283" height="332" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/choker-38-10859"]] || Title: **Choker (#38)**

Artist: **Mary Lee Hu** Born: Lakewood, Ohio 1943

Medium: fine and sterling silver, 18k and 24k gold, and lacquered copper Dimensions: 9 5/8 x 6 1/2 x 7/8 in. (24.5 x 16.6 x 2.3 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the James Renwick Alliance

Accession: 1985.22 || Mary Lee Hu wove together silver, gold, and copper in //Choker (#38)// to form a massive yet delicate neckpiece. Hu expertly wove the metal by hand, using her finger as her primary tool. It is tedious work, and can take hours to complete only a few inches of woven metal; Hu, however, enjoys the slow, meditative process. She loves pattern, rhythm and symmetry, and is inspired by organic forms, including sea creatures and veins in leaves. The flowing, subtly asymmetrical forms in //Choker (#38)// evoke leaves or feathers, and seem to sprout from the core of the piece.
 * About the Artwork: **

Born in Lakewood, Ohio, Mary Lee Hu earned a B.F.A. degree in 1965 at Cranbrook Academy of Art and an M.F.A. in 1967 at Southern Illinois University, where she first explored weaving wire—a characteristic of her jewelry.
 * About the Artist: **

Hu creates unique jewelry by weaving metal threads as if they were textiles. Over the years, her style has evolved, but her techniques and materials have remained consistent&#mdash;her hands are her primary tools. Always conscious of the wearer of her jewelry, she seeks to create objects that adorn rather than overpower the individual.

Hu has researched body adornment in many places, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, New Zealand, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. She is a past president of the Society of North American Goldsmiths and a professor of art at the Univeristy of Washington.

Kenneth R. Trapp and Howard Risatti //Skilled Work: American Craft in the Renwick Gallery// (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Hu Choker (38) Information
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">Artist Biography <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.3px;">SAAM Collections Page
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