Mary Lee Hu
(http://www.craftinamerica.org/artists_metal/story_390.php? 11-6-09)
Mary Lee Hu (b. 1943 in Lakewood, Ohio) creates jewelry using refined textile weaving techniques to sculpt her pieces. Her designs are base on natural forms, movement and symmetry. “The many hours of repetitive twining are a meditative activity,†she says.
She is currently a professor at the University of Washington, Seattle. She received her BFA in Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI, and an MFA in Metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. Hu has received three National Endowment of the Arts Craftsman Fellowships. Her work is in major collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Renwick Gallery, the American Crafts Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. Hu is the winner of the 2008 Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
(http://www.temple.edu/crafts/public_html/mjcc/local/history/p82.html 11-6-09)
Date of Birth: 1943
Place of Birth: Lakewood, Ohio
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Currently teaching at: University of Washington since 1980
Taught at: Michigan State University in the fall of 1977 and the spring of 1980
Taught at: University of Wisconsin - Madison in the fall of 1976 and the spring of 1977
Taught at: Kansas State University in the summer of 1976
Taught at: University of Iowa in the fall of 1976
Taught at: Southern Illinois University in the fall of 1968 and the spring of 1969
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION
School: Cranbrook Academy of Art
Years: 1963 to 1965
Major: Jewelry/Metalsmithing
Degree: BFA
Instructor: Richard Thomas
School: Rochester Institute of Technology
Years: summer of 1963
Major: Jewelry/Metalsmithing
Degree: none
Instructor: Hans Christensen
GRADUATE EDUCATION
School: Southern Illinois University
Years: 1965 to 1967
Major: Jewelry/Metalsmithing
Degree: MFA
Instructor: Brent Kington
Hu was introduced to jewelry and metalsmithing in high school. She was also exposed to small scale metalworking during a summer camp program. She was immediately attracted to the scale of the work, the processes and the image of herself wearing what she made. She went to University of Miami, Ohio for two years and then went to Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield, Michigan to complete her undergraduate degree. Hu learned various metals techniques. What was so unique about this experience is that at that time the student body was composed of mostly graduate students. Hu went on to graduate school at University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale. Her work consisted mostly of jewelry and small scale objects. Hu's designs were based on natural forms, movements and symmetry. During her graduate education, Brent Kington (her professor) encouraged her to seek for and develop her style. Kington's commitment to metalworking was inspiring to Hu. He became a very strong role model for her and her classmates. Kington, at the time, did not have his own separate studio and worked in the main studio with his students. Hu worked directly across from her professor. During her second year of graduate school Hu started to investigate weaving and knotting techniques with wire. She wanted to emulate the lines in her sketches in her metalwork. Hu quickly noticed that the twined wire recreated this effect.
One advantage to working in this manner is ease of portability of tools and supplies. This aspect suited Hu's lifestyle during that period of her life, since she was frequently traveling. Upon her return to the United States, Hu entered numerous competitions to build up an exhibition record.
Hu also became involved with the Society of North American Goldsmiths. She served as president and was also a contributing member to the development of the organization. Hu is also involved with the American Craft Council and the World Crafts Council. She currently is a professor at University of Washington, Seattle. Hu has exhibited extensively nationall and internationally.