JAMIE SPINELLO
Insects, Plants and systems of modularity inspire me.

I create abstract botanical and insect-inspired sculptures. Underlying geometries and structures of plants and insects that facilitate movement, reproduction, and growth inform my work. Mechanisms utilized by plants to unfold new leaves, open flowers, and disperse seeds as well as how insects unfold their wings and contort their segmented bodies fascinate me. I seek to express these mechanisms in my sculptures and wearable art pieces.

My sculptures range from small scale jewelry works only centimeters wide to small paper and plastic maquettes measuring several inches, up to larger than human scale free-standing aluminum sculptures. Central Texas plants growing in open green spaces around my home and plants in my garden inform my current body of work.  I always hope that my spotlight on native plants in my work might inspire more people to add native plants to their home gardens and become more curious about plants and insects in general.

​more of my processes:

All of my glass, silver, and bronze pieces are created through contemporary methods of the ancient art of lost wax casting. Through casting all of my work myself in my studio, I am able to experiment with the tolerances of casting glass and metal to capture the intricacies of plant forms and be more experimental by being intimately involved in the casting process personally. For my larger works, I use computer assisted design technologies after working out the forms through drawings and creating hand cut maquettes, to calculate and fine-tune every part and how they will come together in metal. I then cut, form and assemble all parts by hand using rivets and bolts.

Through all of my work, I aim to elevate the appreciation of native plants and insects. I attempt to spread my love of native plants and insects by reaching people through creating wearable art that they can experience daily and  through sculptures that can be encountered in public and private settings and experienced on a larger scale.