Holly Anne Mitchell

CONTEMPORARY ALTERNATIVE
Indianapolis, IN

Mitchell first began working with newspaper in January 1990, when her professor at the University of Michigan gave her students an assignment of using only non-traditional materials. The Chicago Tribune made an impact on her from a young age, from when her mother subscribed to various newspapers. The bright colors of the comics pages, and the patterns and textures the text and different fonts made across the grey pages, were a perfect medium.

This piece marks the first time Mitchell made jewelry that gave commentary on political events. My mother was fascinated by politics. I remember watching the Bush versus Gore election with her in 2000, which was the last time we had television in our house. She read with dedication the biographies of past statesmen, and always knew the importance of a vibrant democracy to the health of our country. I’m sure her purchasing of this piece from Holly Anne Mitchell reflected her acknowledgement of Mitchell’s courage in addressing the issues of our era. I wouldn’t have put it past her to have also recognized that this was Mitchell’s first piece to venture into this new territory.