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."