Art
Alex was a self-taught sculptor. He worked mostly in aluminum, copper, brass, bronze and steel, and made everything from lighting and furniture to jewelry. His sculpture was shown at the Westenburg Gallery in Great Barrington and at the Watts Towers Arts Center in Los Angeles, and he designed a jewelry line for Encinta by Muna, a boutique in Istanbul.
The photographs here are Alex’s own, from his website and his Flickr page. Select any piece to see it larger.
Selected pieces, 2009
Anodized aluminum
Colored bracelets are ano/dyed polished aluminum. Color is permanent and aluminum is 1/4 the weight of silver. Anodizing creates a porous, crystalline aluminum oxide layer over the piece that protects it and absorbs dye. Aluminum oxide is the same material as sapphire.
— Alex, from alexfethiere.com
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Forged copper
Alex started making heavy copper bracelets while he was managing editor at MR magazine. He was inspired partly by manillas, the copper and bronze bracelets once used as currency in West Africa, which he collected. He forged them in his metal studio on Long Island: the copper was heated, beaten and bent, then machined or welded with parts like typewriter gears, electrodes and printing-press pieces. All of the materials were recycled or reclaimed.
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In the press
- Item of the Week: Copper Bracelets, MR magazine, April 2009 (PDF)
- How to protect your books from zombies, ArtThreat, August 2011, on his “Sinkhold” bookcase, welded from parts of a fun-park carousel, restaurant sinks and a roll-down gate (PDF)
His work was also covered by Inhabitat, BoingBoing, Crain’s and the Istanbul TV show Doya Doya.