Cooper Hewitt says...
Born in 1935, Peter Skubic has been considered an important figure in contemporary art jewelry since the 1970s. He regards jewelry-making as “an experiment, a sculptural or performative statement, a bodily activity, the crossing of a boundary, and a creative act of liberation.”
Known for his experimentation with shapes and materials, Skubic was part of the 1960s art scene, his jewelry expressing a symbolic and formal assertiveness, often conveying a sense of irony and irreverence. In the 1980s, Skubic shunned gold as a material filled with historically negative values. He chose to work only with lowly materials associated with mass production and industrial society. His favorite material is stainless steel, which he assembles and insets without welding, in an ingenious articulated system of springs, magnets, bars, beams, wires, pins and discs which support constructions that seem surreal. Skubic transforms jewelry into sculptures on several levels. The steel surfaces, polished, colorful, reflective or mirrored, become a means of expression.
