Today we’d like to introduce you to Dante Perozzi.
Dante, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born in Zimbabwe and raised in the US. I moved around a lot in my life but the places that had the most impact were Charleston, SC, Tucson, AZ & Southern California (Venice Beach & LA). I think I was struck by the great differences in the style and architecture characteristic of the areas of the cities I lived in.
I also traveled widely, often back to Southern Africa where I have family. A trip to visit a Soweto township was particularly impactful where I witnessed peoples housing so creatively constructed out of tires and billboards and fences out of mattress springs. While one cannot be helped but to be affected by an intimate looks at the poverty, I chose to be inspired and focus my take away on the creativity and ingenuity of the wonderful people I met living there who were each day making something out of nothing. This trip solidified my interest in working with sculpture and I began creating architectural structures out of scraps I scavenged from my own urban landscape & eventually exhibiting these pieces in the LA area.
Once I enrolled and attended a few years in the sculpture program at CSU Long Beach my sculptural and installation work aesthetic had been distilled to more simplified abstract forms that referenced habitations & architecture with a heavy formal emphasis on lines, angles an basic shapes. I was creating work out of resin and wood. My work was getting heavily conceptual and looking back now I can see how much I was not loving the process of creating as much as I had when it was more problem solving & play based. Toward the end of my time at CSULB, as required by the coursework, I enrolled in an off-concentration credit course to fulfill remaining requirements…. a metalsmithing classes. Needless to say, I never looked back. I stayed as long as I could to continue taking as many classes in the CSULB metals program as I could before graduation.
Currently I have expanded to the Denver Area and am working with one foot in Los Angeles are and one toe testing the Colorado waters. I travel back and forth between the two for shows and meetings.
Also, another possible point of interest I am often told I need to relate is that I have 7 fingers. 5 on my left hand and 2 on my right. I don’t really think about it often and for the most part it doesn’t affect the job…just sometimes I have to make adjustments to my techniques. Get creative about it,
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Dante Perozzi Jewelry is my line, I work with a combination of fabrication techniques and the Lost Wax Casting method. If you look at my collections, especially the Cityscape Collection you can see a direct link to my sculptural inspirations that I described in me about section. Jewelry was a way for me to continue to work with my hands in 3 dimensions and rediscover the sense of joy from the act of making that I had lost under the heavily conceptual discourse in school. It allows me to create pieces out of the forms that I have always found beautiful and inspiring.
I have been primarily working in Sterling Silver & Raw Brass but this year (2018) I am launching my fine collection: DPJ FINE. It will be heavy in the gold and gemstones.
I also teach workshops through my other side-gig D&D workshops in both the LA & Denver area and have started falling in love with sharing my knowledge with others.
How can artists connect with other artists?
-Get out of the house and off the social media! Go do markets, fairs and shows where you can both meet peers and potential clients. You will be surrounded by people who are enthusiastic about the creative process in one way or another and that speak your language. Hopefully many will become your friends.
-Host/teach workshops, join panel discussions in your field and share your skills and knowledge with a few people. There is little more rewarding than that.
-Go see another people’s work and honestly engage them about it. Support each other, One thing that has killed me about my industry is that many of the other jewelry people are secretive and fearful of being copied.
While that certainly is a concern- it’s not so common. Those of us who have established businesses have our own voices and visual style already and aren’t looking to rip anyone off. Personally, I think there is room for everyone to grow and experience success while lifting and supporting each other, I have many jewelry peers I am in regular communication with. We help each other all the time whether its sharing resources or bouncing ideas off of each other, These people are one of my businesses greatest assets.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
info@danteperozzijewelry
www.danteperozzi.com
@danteperozzijewelry
I love creating custom pieces for people and encourage direct messages and emails. My website has a list of stockists- mostly from the LA area and one gem in Charleston, SC. Also, it will list my upcoming markets and events that I try to attend regularly.
I highly encourage people to come to the markets where they can meet me in person and learn more about the process and inspiration. I am due to give both to a second child this month and so I will be taking a brief hiatus from showing while I welcome my new son into the world. I will be back doing markets in both the LA and Denver area starting end of summer/fall 2018 to accompany the launch of my fine collections.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.danteperozzi.com
- Phone: 3102545186
- Email: info@danteperozzi.com
- Instagram: @danteperozzijewelry
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danteperozzi/
Image Credit:
Victoria Cragg (for the model shot)
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
