A selection of Jolynn Santiago's works will be available to view at Brooklyn Metal Works during NYC Jewelry Week (November 17-23, 2025). Please contact gallery@bkmetalworks.com for a private viewing appointment.

In the Gallery at Brooklyn Metal Works is pleased to announce Jolynn Santiago’s new solo exhibition, surroundings. On view September 13th through November 9th, 2025, the exhibition will include new jewelry works by the artist drawn from her investigations of settling dust and the accumulations which mark the gentle passage of time. 

By fusing silver and gold fragments within ring-shaped moulds carved from graphite, Santiago creates a cycle of renewal formed by debris. With these works, Santiago asks us to become attuned to our surroundings, to register the layers beneath us, and take a breath. 

surroundings opens at In the Gallery at Brooklyn Metal Works on Saturday, September 13th  with a free public reception from 7 - 9 pm. The exhibition is organized by Brooklyn Metal Works’ Co-Founders, Erin S. Daily & Brian Weissman, in collaboration with the artist. View the press release here.

View collection here

RELATED PROGRAMMING

Opening Reception 

Saturday, September 13th, 2025

7:00 - 9:00 pm EST

In the Gallery*

Brooklyn Metal Works

640 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Artist Talk with Jolynn Santiago

Saturday, November 8, 2025

2:00 - 3:00pm EST

5th Floor*

Brooklyn Metal Works

640 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY 11238

In conjunction with the exhibition, Brooklyn Metal Works invites you to attend an artist talk by Jolynn Santiago at In the Gallery (640 Dean Street, Brooklyn) on Saturday, November 8. This event is free and open to the public.

*Please note that these spaces are only accessible via staircase. 

Artist Statement

“As I walk along the edge of a dirt road, cold air seeps through my clothing, traveling the length of my body. With eyes wide, I stay attuned to my surroundings: pressed grass, thawing puddles, and layers of sediment beneath my feet. I imagine what lies below the surface, down to the earth’s core.

Circling the yard, my mind begins to drift. I close my eyes and feel the wind brush across my skin. The air is damp and sweet, scented with flowers and wet earth; I breathe it in deeply. In that moment, I feel grounded in the rhythm of early spring.

On a summer walk, I notice fallen pine needles beside green shoots, a subtle reminder that decay and renewal coexist. These quiet encounters affirm that I am alive and part of the natural cycles unfolding around me.

Walking encourages me to pause, observe, and absorb the natural world. My practice is rooted in experimentation, contemplation, and a commitment to slow, deliberate processes that reflect these everyday experiences. The jewelry and objects I create are just one part of a broader, more holistic practice—one of observing, making, and unmaking.” - Jolynn Santiago

Jolynn Santiago is an artist, jeweler, and educator with over a decade of experience blending these fields. Santiago holds a BFA in Jewelry and Enameling from Kent State University and an MFA in Metal from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She has taught at several universities, including SUNY New Paltz, Towson University, and Montgomery College, and leads workshops at craft schools such as the Baltimore Jewelry Center, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (where she was also an Artist-in-Residence), Pocosin, and Metalwerx. Currently, she offers a variety of in-person and online classes from her studio in Charlotte, Vermont. 

Santiago’s work has been exhibited both in the United States and internationally, including the Particles exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design in Brussels, Belgium; Collect Art Fair in London; the Rejewelry Competition in New York; and SCHMUCK 2023, a prestigious contemporary jewelry exhibition in Munich, Germany. Her work has also been featured in publications such as Tools of Transformation: Redefining Craft in Contemporary Jewellery (Klimt02.net) and FLOW: Searching for Infinity in Metalsmith Magazine.

Opening in the Gallery at Brooklyn Metal Works on Friday April 4th, 7 PM. On view from April 4th - June 1st . We will also be hosting an artist talk with Lin Cheung on April 11th at 7 PM.

Lin Cheung is a jewelry artist from London. She graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewelry. She is the Senior Reader in Jewelry and Final Year leader on the BA Jewelry Design course at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. 

Sampler is a curation of new and recent jewelry by Lin Cheung, exhibiting for the first time in New York. 

2025 marks 10 years of gemstone carving for the artist, and the show includes examples of well-known pieces such as the ‘Delayed Reaction’ series of carved stone brooches and a ‘Pearl Chain’ necklace that is an echo of the original chain carved from a pearl necklace her mother gave to her. ‘Glam Rock’ rings make their Brooklyn debut with activation dates that will invite visitors to bring their own favorite nail lacquer to paint a ring and try it on.

Lin’s jewelry is often minimalistic, pared back, that comments on and reinvents familiar jewelry forms and materials to reflect her own sense and relevance of wearing jewelry today. Themes that recur in her work are on value and identity, societal change, the pearl, political pin badges, personalization and customization of jewelry and a reinterpretation of the materials used in jewelry. 

Current research has led to a fascination with synthetic and lab created gem materials such as cubic zirconia and moissanite. Experimental carving of diamond simulants has resulted in ‘sampler’ pieces that either exploit the properties of the material or carve against the nature of the material. Diamond simulants are equally as beautiful to the eye as their natural counterparts and were lab created to match or, in most cases, exceed the refractive index of natural diamond - the amount of light the material can reflect back through a cut gemstone, in other words: its sparkle.

Sampler also refers to a jewelry artist sampling the materials and techniques of their own lapidary craft, small experiments that hover between a test and a possibility, on the journey towards a new piece of jewelry.

View Works Here

Bows - a gift before the gift.

On View December 7th, 2024 - January 26th, 11AM-6PM

Featured artists include Andy Lowrie, Anjali Shankar, Amelia Toelke, Ashley Buchanan, Cam Natkin, Elizabeth Brim, Erica Bello, J Taran Diamond, Kaitlin Kerr, Kate Cusack, Laura Fortune, Luci Jockel, Luz Arias, Mallory Weston, Mary Hallam Pearse, Mia Hebib, Sarah Holden, Sayumi Yokouchi, Sharon Massey, Vershali Jain, and Victoria Bulgakova.

This exhibition was curated by Brooklyn Metal Works Co-Founders, Erin S. Daily & Brian Weissman.