About

Andrea Corson is inspired by her past and her present. Whether it be jewelry,  hair ornaments, work on paper, or sculpture, that Corson is making, she embraces what is around her and pays close attention to line, form, function, detail and color. 

Corson began making hair ornaments, after she realized that her daughter’s elastic hair ties were plain. She started using vintage shank buttons from her mother’s collection and new shank style buttons to decorate the hairbands. She then began, making her own shank style buttons for hair ties, in the same way that she makes her jewelry. She sculpts from scratch in wax and/or clay, using her hands and the most basic wax working tools, She makes pieces by forming letters and shapes, by dripping tiny irregular balls, and she also uses her collection of representational waxes, that were previously molded from readymade forms.  After the waxes are made, they are cast in metal. Corson hand finishes the pieces, giving play to their natural and detailed elements. Many of these pieces in Corson's hair ornament and jewelry collections are made individually. They are wearable works of art. 

Corson also enjoys photography. She uses her photographs as a base for the drawings. In the photographs she looks for lines, shapes, relationships, and values. Corson utilizes materials that she has in her home studio, such as paints, pencils, pens, markers, and mixed media, to block out, to bring forth, to change and to enhance what she sees. The original photographs and the new images hold memories and stories of places, and of expressions and aspirations.

Corson’s current sculptures encompass ideas that pull from her hairbands, jewelry and work on paper. Her curiosity to find and make dimensional lines unfolds in the sculptures. 

Andrea Corson has her BFA in sculpture, from Syracuse University and her MFA in sculpture, from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She lives and works in New York City.