Artist Bio
Dawna Gillespie is a metalsmith and jewelry designer from Lubbock, Texas.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Studies from Texas Tech University. Dawna was only able to take one metalsmith class in her undergraduate studies. However, the first time she picked up a saw she was hooked. She has since found success as a professional artist hand fabricating never-reproduced, statement adornments to defy a world inundated with mass-produced accessories. Raw copper and brass take shape using a jeweler's saw and techniques such as: piercing, etching, forming, forging, patinas, hammering, and stamping. The result is a lightweight wearable artwork that is truly distinctive. Movements, such as Baroque and Art Nouveau, influence the style of her work; while examining the theories of femininity, fertility, domesticity, marriage, and sexuality.
In 2018, Dawna’s work was included in the October exhibition VisionMakers2018 at 108|Contemporary in Tulsa, Oklahoma; juried by Emily Zilber, the previous editor of Metalsmith magazine. Beginning 2019, Dawna was named the “Winter 2019 ~ Designer Collection” with a 10 page spread in the national publication of Belle Armoire Jewelry. In March, "Dissection" was juried into the national exhibition, Hidden Treasures: Enveloped Metalwork, juried by Don Friedlich, at the Craft Alliance Center for Art + Design in St. Louis, Missouri. Later in 2019, Dawna was 1 of 10 national artists selected for the national exhibition, Sydney Lynch Juried Jewelry Show, at LUX Center for the Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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2020 brought more success for Dawna Gillespie. She was featured on the
49th season of Texas Country Reporter in September. Then, Dawna ended
the year as 1 of 3 Semi-Finalists in the “Fashion & Style” category for the
2020 Texas Works Awards, presented by Go Texan! In 2021, Gillespie was invited to exhibit in the Spring CraftBoston: Studs & Drops
by Society of Arts + Crafts in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Spring 2022, Dawna was published in a 6 page spread in the
Texas Techsan: Texas Tech Alumni Magazine, her alma mater!
Ending 2022 through the beginning of 2023, she was juried into
CraftBoston Holiday by Society of Arts + Crafts. 2023 continues to prove Gillespie
is on the right path, as she had 3 pairs of earrings juried into the 10th edition of The Earring Show by Craft Council of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
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Along with these recognitions, Dawna is striving to make the world a more beautiful place; connecting never-reproduced adornments and beautiful souls together ~ one at a time.