Ana Lopez

Bio

Ana M. Lopez is a metalsmith, educator and decorative arts scholar. Her creative work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She is the author of the reference book Metalworking Through History: An Encyclopedia, published in 2009 by Greenwood Press, as well as numerous scholarly articles. She organized the 2007 international biennial exhibition of the Enamelist Society; chaired the 2010 Education Dialogue for the Society of North American Goldsmiths annual conference; served as a Beta Site Testing Faculty for the craft textbook Makers: A History of American Studio Craft, and as juror for the 2016 Materials Hard & Soft national exhibition; and lectures extensively on her own work in many venues including the 2017 Society of North American Goldsmith’s conference. She holds an MFA in Metalsmithing from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and an MA in the History of American Decorative Arts from The Smithsonian Associates and Parsons School of Design. She is currently Associate Professor and Area Coordinator of Metalsmithing & Jewelry at the University of North Texas where she also teaches The History of Craft.

Statement

My work utilizes disparate forms of metalworking in order to address a variety of relationships including those of the contemporary constructed body to industry, that of the individual to one’s beliefs, and also to the places we inhabit. The underlying narrative tendency and self-reference to the materials and processes of metalworking serve as unifying elements.