I like to make things that people can touch. To make something that can be used or worn daily is an exhilarating achievement for me.  My work investigates the significance of how a material can be redirected and command presence based on vision rather than antiquated preconceived monetary hierarchies. Gold mining, landfills, chemical treatment plants, plastics… have skewed the very foundation of what is or should be valued.
 I began with a challenge to myself to use all I know as a goldsmith/diamond setter/designer/jeweler/artist to elevate materials such as tin cans, bailing wire and other recycled materials to create objects equal to ones made out of “precious” materials. This challenge began as a challenge to myself and continues to be a relevant construct and motivator. 
Let’s find Value = Creativity + Craftsmanship.

ELLEN WIESKE is an artist and educator who works in many materials. Primarily a metalsmith, she received a BA from Wayne State University and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, both in Michigan where she was born. Wiekse has taught workshops and shows her work internationally. She maintains dowstudio, her studio/Gallery with wife, potter Carole Ann Fer, on Deer Isle in down east Maine. She is also  the Deputy  Director at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.