Sarah Jane Sindler, creator of KING RELD, stumbled into jewelry by a turn of miraculous events. Sindler began carving waxes with her friend Tricia Kilnkhamer in her home in 2013 and casting them, primarily in silver, with Ira Helfer of David I. Helfer Jewelers in Pittsburgh, PA. She began working with Ira, a third-generation jeweler in Pittsburgh's historic jewelry district and began a 5-year apprenticeship with the company ‘til 2019. She works and teaches at her studio at Brewhouse Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and instructs at Protohaven, Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh Center for Arts, and Touchstone Center for Craft. Her work has been exhibited by the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG), among others. She is a member of SNAG and the Precious Collective of International Art Jewelers. Her work is collected by clients both locally and nationally.
Sarah Sindler / KING RELD
she/her
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
“KING RELD explores how social media, popular social trends, and natural competition affect our instincts, interpersonal relationships, and how we connect to our natural world, and the health of our environment. Our need to be perceived stirs a very real want for validation and popularity, which, undoubtedly, leads to social paranoia and anxiety, and a potential to look inward or to realign with nature, line, and form. This society we find ourselves living in has been created by us and many others before us, and it feels directly oppositional to ancient patterns and ecologies that were once balanced and vibrant.”
How does your work relate to the theme connection?
“The chain is a very literal symbol of connection in its simplest form. A link painstakingly carved and cast in multiples; each one filed and finessed to a shine and then linked to another with care and attention affords an unbreakable kind of fortress. This, I use as a metaphor of the queer bonds in this community of strength and solidarity. Each one of us are unique and hold different perspectives and passions, but as we come together we strengthen our individualities and empower our devotion to this uniqueness. This devotion is a gift from our elders who fought for it for us to live as we do in this continued path towards our collective freedom of expression, this unbreakable chain of queer liberation.
In this piece, the individual becomes the collective. The connection between parts is the chain itself and, when worn, you can feel the weight of the community of links that make this chain. The clasp is hidden, so as to metaphorically conceal the break in the chain. It has a slide clasp that can only be found when the entire chain is scrutinized. This type of security was an integral part of the design of this chain that lends itself to the notion that even a weakened link is strong among the sum of its parts, among the shroud of its community."
"RELDchain", Sterling silver, 15.5" x .5" x .5", 2023
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Simon Leung
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Francely Flores
“I have found my creative spark is nurtured most when I am in the company of other artists and art lovers. I love the way art can create dialogue and structure that is able to build strong relationships and communities. The way going to a craft school for even a week affords me to make some of the best friendships I have in my whole life. These connection to others intensifies my designs and allows for more exploration in other mediums or others’ ideas and perspectives that haven’t crossed my mind or heart. I enjoy being in the studio alone, too, but only to a point and beyond that, it seems my creativity functions in a vacuum for better or for worse. I find myself seeking solitude in the studio, but more and more I discover that art and practice function so much more whole-heartedly within a community.
As far as my practice, when I am putting my hand to metal or stone, each move I make leads to the next part of a piece. Each step feels utterly connected to the next, as if it were leading it hand-in-hand until each individual work of art seems complete. Although if each piece were actually complete, I'm not sure I would need to keep creating because I find each piece I make leads to the next, like a ladder leading me up to the next design or idea."
What role does connection play in your creative process?
"Because of the insatiable need to find freedom in queer self-expression and love I have felt in others as well as myself, I know the power and fire that burns inside of us. As a community who has dealt with backlash almost daily, the queer community I surround myself with are some of the most giving people I have ever known, always sharing resources with each other in any way they can. This safety net allows for my community to organize for and help other marginalized groups both near me and afar."
What connection(s) does your queerness make to the world around you?
NYCJW24 @ UrbanGlass, Simon Leung
Anything else you would like to share about this work?
This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
“All of the Sterling silver used in this piece is recycled or ethically sourced."
[queerphoria]v4 @ ECU Symposium
