Sweet Hearts

Zachary Lectenberg creates jewelry that is as graphic as it is narrative. Bringing his illustration alive through champlevé enamels, Lechenberg created deceitfully simple looking ornaments that nostalgically evoke his 1990s childhood spent reading comic books, collecting (and trading) Garbage Pail Kid cards, and skateboarding. The images he creates on his jewelry are both comical and unsettling. Today, in addition to working as an artist, Lechtenberg is also a toy collector. Like many such collectors, he is interested in the pristine nature of collecting something still in its original packaging. For his own works, he creates custom packages and grapples with the idea that owners may actually remove the jewelry from its perfectly fitted casing. In this brooch, titled Sweet Heart, Lechtenberg has illustrated a comic book-like figure with blue hair licking an ice cream cone. Next to her is a cherry with a laughing face. And, above her head a thought bubble with a red heart. The reverse is patterned with scratched hearts and skulls and the words “SWEET HEART” in the center.

Lechtenberg received his Master's degree from East Carolina University where he studied under the tutelage of Robert (Bob) Ebendorf. Ebendorf is a pioneer of the American studio jewelry movement, fifty years ago working to found organization like the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG). The brooch is part of a group of works by Ebendorf's students, including Kate Cole's Old Lines (2019.2289) and Sharon Massey's Aqueduct Knuckleduster (2020.157), that demonstrate the continued legacy of early American studio jewelry practitioners and adds further strength to our world-class collection of contemporary jewelry.