Artist

Mary Lee Hu

born Lakewood, OH 1943
Born
Lakewood, Ohio, United States
Active in
  • Olmsted Falls, Ohio, United States
  • Seattle, Washington, United States
Biography

Born in Lakewood, Ohio, Mary Lee Hu earned a B.F.A. degree in 1965 at Cranbrook Academy of Art and an M.F.A. in 1967 at Southern Illinois University, where she first explored weaving wire—a characteristic of her jewelry.

Hu creates unique jewelry by weaving metal threads as if they were textiles. Over the years, her style has evolved, but her techniques and materials have remained consistent; her hands are her primary tools. Always conscious of the wearer of her jewelry, she seeks to create objects that adorn rather than overpower the individual.

Hu has researched body adornment in many places, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, New Zealand, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. She is a past president of the Society of North American Goldsmiths and a professor of art at the Univeristy of Washington.

Kenneth R. Trapp and Howard Risatti Skilled Work: American Craft in the Renwick Gallery (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998)

Works by this artist (8 items)

Beatrice S. Levy, The Beach, n.d., color aquatint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chicago Society of Etchers, 1935.13.188
The Beach
Daten.d.
color aquatint
Not on view
Beatrice S. Levy, The Derelict, 1914, color aquatint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chicago Society of Etchers, 1935.13.187
The Derelict
Date1914
color aquatint on paper
Not on view
Beatrice S. Levy, In Orchestra Hall, n.d., drypoint, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chicago Society of Etchers, 1935.13.189
In Orchestra Hall
Daten.d.
drypoint
Not on view
Beatrice S. Levy, Rain in the Hills, 1935, etching on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chicago Society of Etchers, 1935.13.605
Rain in the Hills
Date1935
etching on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.11 - SAAM-2016.11_6 - 124929
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
November 13, 2015March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.