Carolyn Morris Bach

The art and objects of indigenous people are the inspiration behind Carolyn Morris Bach’s unique handmade jewelry.

Acclaimed jewelry artist, Carolyn Morris Bach, has a light-filled studio in southern Rhode Island surrounded by wild forests and pastures. This environment connects her to the seasonal cycles and ubiquitous power of nature, inspiring jewelry pieces that become metaphors for elements of the natural world.

Bach uses images of sun, moon, wind, rain, stones, plants, and animals in her work while referencing Native American symbolism and spiritual beliefs.

Creating jewelry for more than 30 years

A graduate of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, Bach has been creating stunning pieces of jewelry for more than 30 years. Using gold, silver, copper, and other natural elements such as jasper, petrified wood, stones, bone, ebony, and gemstones, each piece becomes an expression of the wilderness that surrounds her.

Taking a "low-tech" handmade approach

Bach's studio is filled with the tools of her trade — a flexible shaft for drilling, cutting, carving, and polishing, hammers, saws, pliers — some of which she has used for decades. The tools are worn, but they are like old friends she is reluctant to let go of. "The thing about tools," she says, "is that they're so familiar and comfortable. Even though I buy replacements, I usually never use them."

Bach makes every piece of her jewelry by hand from start to finish. Admitting she is "low-tech" — and is perfectly okay with that — she says, "My work has always been about my eyes, my hands, and my hand tools." And when you see her beautiful and unusual work, no one could argue with that aesthetic.

An early introduction to metalwork

We asked Bach when she became interested in jewelry making. "I actually had no interest in jewelry at all," she replied. "But I went to a progressive high school in Michigan that had an excellent art department. I started out in ceramics, but was tired of the long process from start to finish and I wanted something more immediate. My teacher, Shirley McKee, pointed me to the metals side of the department and I immediately understood how to work metal. It was odd. It just came so naturally."

Inuit carvings inspire Bach's work

In describing the inspiration behind the imagery and the symbolism her pieces express, Bach says, "My imagery developed through travel and a true love of objects created by indigenous people, Inuit carvings in particular. When I moved to the woods in the early 1990s, animal and 'goddess' figures entered my work as an interpretation of what I was seeing in my environment.

"I'm delighted they resonate with so many people, and on a visceral level," she continued. "My work isn't so much about adornment, it's about the magic of talismans, which may be why my collectors are so passionate. My objects strike something deep inside of them. They feel protected."

Bach's works can be found in museum, corporate, and private collections including Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York; Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts; and Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin. She has been recognized with awards of merit from Smithsonian Institution, American Craft Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art (Women's Committee), and has received a grant from The National Endowment for The Arts.

Discover more of Bach's jewelry on her website, www.carolynmorrisbach.com or @carolynmorrisbach