Mia Kaplan makes jewelry, sculpture, utensils, and other objects. Born in China and raised in North Carolina, she currently calls Philadelphia home. She earned a BA in Studio Art at Earlham College in 2018. She's been an intern at Liberty Arts Sculpture Studio and Brooklyn Metal Works. Mia completed the Core Fellowship at the Penland School of Craft in 2022. Mia currently works as the Production Specialist at Emily Chelsea Jewelry and is a member of Night Shift Studio. Her work includes miniatures, replicated objects, and jewelry.
Mia Kaplan
she/her
Philadelphia PA, USA
“My work is made mostly in metal and includes jewelry, sculpture, and utensils. I engage in a lot of object replication out of a palette of different metals. Often they are made in miniature. I find that miniatures offer closeness and distance and give us a sense of our presence in the world. My work is full of wonder, whimsy, and playfulness. Some of the pieces include moving parts, which creates another level of transformation and interaction. If the piece is functional or wearable, my aim is for it to be comfortable, easy to use, and satisfying.”
"Home Glow", Bronze, brass, copper, nickel silver, silver 3.5” x 2.25” With belt: 6.5” x 6.5”, 2022How does your work relate to the theme connection?
“This piece is my connection to a place. It is a home in Penland, North Carolina that I lived in for two years. The front windows of the house are fabricated from wire, and they frame a sheet of bronze patinated in a gold and warm tone. The exterior of the house is textured copper, with horizontal stripes that emulate wood paneling. I blackened the materials that make up the house to show that it is night time. This piece recalls all the times I came home in the evening and was welcomed by the warm glow of light emanating from inside. I wanted to memorialize and treasure the safety and comfort that I felt while in this home. When you turn the piece over, you then see the inside of the house; a single light bulb hangs surrounded by moths. I feel a deep sense of connection to this house and the memories I made there. Although I am replicating a specific place, the house is rendered generically enough that anyone can relate. Transforming it into a functional belt buckle was my way of treasuring it. Being able to wear it also allows me an additional layer of connection to this work."
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Francely Flores
What role does connection play in your creative process?
“I love all the different ways you can connect metal to itself or other materials. I especially love connections made with the torch and by soldering or by rivets and bolts. I actually find metal to be reasonably forgiving. When a connection fails, there’s often the chance to try again. If you clean up the metal, you can re-attempt a seam. I feel a deep connection to process and the joy I get from working in the material. It has always drawn my focus and driven my curiosity. Since I make a lot of jewelry, there is an intimate level of connection that the wearer gets with my work. I always aim to make my work comfortable, sturdy, and satisfying to use and wear. A lot of my work also has movable parts like an arrow attached to a spring, a charm that dangles on a brooch, or a pinwheel that spins. These parts connect to and interact with the user because they need a person to activate them."
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Simon Leung
What connection(s) does your queerness make to the world around you?
"My queerness connects me to other people. I feel a deeper level of connection to other queer people because of the mutual understanding and often mutual experience. My queerness also connects me to a more open and diverse way of thinking about the world. Queerness is multiplicitous, generous, and non-judgmental. It releases boundaries, stigma, taboo, and restriction from many ways of life. When one is open to any possibility, and the acceptance of all types of being, it allows for greater empathy in your life."
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.
“I've made a few subsequent pieces with moths being drawn to a light or a flame."
[queerphoria]v4 @ ECU Symposium
