Metalsmith Melinda Risk creates jewels imbued with precious and semi-precious stones, enamel, porcelain, shell, gold, silver and copper. Her narrative works are engraved, carved, cast and fabricated with much thought and care. Like ancient amulets, Risk’s pieces seem to glow with a powerful presence all their own.

FREAK SHOW SOUVENIRS STATEMENT

I love visiting the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. It was the winter home for the circus starting in 1927; the grounds have a huge diorama that depicts circus life in miniature. My Freak Show is an homage to the original, interpreted in my style. I have included Tom Thumb and the Fiji Mermaid, both specific to Barnum & Bailey, Ringling Brothers’ Circus. I have made jewels that might be worn by the performers or taken home as souvenirs by audience members.