Featured Alumni
Nikki Couppee, M.F.A. ’11
Artist Nikki Couppee examines questions of authenticity and status in her jewelry making. “I seek to create opulent jewelry that is reminiscent of royal jewelry but made out of quotidian materials instead of precious gems and metals,” she says. “Plexiglass, brass and found objects stand in for gemstones, gold and pearls in my asymmetrically designed pieces.”
Couppee received her M.F.A. in jewelry/metals/enameling from School of Art in 2011. Her work has been shown internationally — including at the SIERAAD Art Fair in Amsterdam and the LOOT exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York — and featured in such publications as American Craft, Metalsmith, Vogue Brazil and the Lark Books compendium "500 Enameled Objects."
Scott Goss, M.F.A. ’14
The work of multimedia artist Scott Goss fixates on two unique core concepts, each incorporating a slew of materials. In his glasswork, Scott depicts the landscapes of forgotten spaces, vibrancy yielding to entropy. In Scott’s video-based installations, he portrays an internal sense of space, built from memories and daydreams. This space is accessed through installations that require the viewer’s active participation.
Scott Goss, who received his M.F.A. in glass from the School of Art in 2014, is the recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award (2015), as well as a grant from the Harpo Foundation (2014). He has exhibited coast to coast and is represented by galleries in Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh. Learn more about his work at www.scottgoss.com.
Nicole Schneider, B.F.A. ’07, M.F.A. ’12
In creating her typically geometric and non-representational prints, artist Nicole Schneider describes her process as one of transformative layering. “I construct an image the way a musician might construct a song, using field samples,” she explains. “While viewers may not know precisely where they have encountered a certain pattern or texture, there is a moment of recognition and familiarity that has been re-contextualized.”
Schneider earned both her B.F.A. (2007) and M.F.A. (2012) in printmaking from the School of Art. In addition to her work, which has been shown and collected across Northeast Ohio, she has served on the staff of Cleveland’s Zygote Press and operated the Black Balloon Editions print shop and gallery. More information is available at www.nicolemschneider.com.
The School of Art plans to feature its alumni regularly. Submit your news or artwork to ksusoanewsletter@kent.edu.
