Gideon Hermann is a jeweler, metalsmith, and MFA candidate at PennWest Edinboro.
They make fabrication heavy work inspired by architecture, microscopy, and ecology. Their work often includes mechanisms that provide a kinetic experience for the wearer, and they work primarily in jewelry and interactive sculpture. Gideon received their BFA with a focus in Jewelry and Metalsmithing and a Digital Fabrication and Design Certificate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in May 2021.
Gideon Hermann
they/he
Edinboro, PA, USA
“Geometric Convergence is an exploration in masculinity, connection and community. Many interwoven parts reinforce each other and form a stable, resilient structure. In a similar way, our relationships to the people around us, especially within the queer community, strengthen and protect us. Geometric Convergence was inspired by the experience of standing inside an abandoned mining building and looking at the sky through a truss system that had lost the roof it once supported. I was captivated by intersecting lines and shapes that emerged as I altered my perspective and navigated the space.”
@gideonhermannjewelry
How does your work relate to the theme connection?
“Geometric Convergence explores a parallel between the strength that structure and geometry provide architecture and the strength that community brings human beings. Each individual wire is relatively soft and can be bent, cut, or otherwise destroyed when isolated. Together however, individual pieces come together to form a strong and resilient structure.
The inspiration for this body of work comes from two major sources. One source is the truss systems left behind on decaying industrial buildings, and the other source is the structural support that reinforces bridges. Truss systems offer support and safety through their connections. They tend to persevere even as the roof and walls of a building decay and fade away. These systems of support survive the test of time. Bridges allow us to travel across landscapes and connect to places and people that may otherwise be cut off from us. There is strength and resilience found in being a part of an interconnected community."
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Francely Flores
"Geometric Convergence", Steel, copper, enamel, concrete, 4.5" x 4.5" x 2.5", 2024
“Connections inspire a lot of my work and my fascination in the world. My work is inspired by several types of connection such as ecology and the relationships between plants, fungi, and creatures or architectural and structural connections. I tend to make either jewelry or interactive sculpture as an attempt to connect with the viewer through the objects I make. I hope to use art as a means to facilitate connection between human and non-human neighbors in our ecosystems."
What role does connection play in your creative process?
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Simon Leung
What connection(s) does your queerness make to the world around you?
"I find that looking at the world through a queer lens leads me down exploratory paths that I might not investigate otherwise. For example, fungi are queer organisms that have captured and held my attention for years. Fungi break down binaries and question our conceptions of nature. They are not plants, animals, or bacteria. Rather, they create their own narratives and reject traditional classifications. Similarly to queerness, fungi push the boundaries of our understanding of the world.
In my recent work, I’ve been exploring my masculinity through the use of steel and depictions of industry. I’m learning about the steel industry, factory work, unions, and masculinity on my own terms, as I was often shut out of masculine spaces. I’m participating in self-creation and allowing myself the fluidity to continue engaging with gender in my own way."
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Francely Flores
Anything else you would like to share about this work?
This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“This is an early piece in a body of work where I'd like to ask ‘What is left behind after de-industrialization?’ and ‘How can we remediate spaces that were made inhospitable by extractive practices?’ I'd like to eventually grow moss and other plants on industrial sculptures, and these ideas are developing further as I make the work.”
[queerphoria]v4 @ ECU Symposium
