Meet Trailblazer Dante Perozzi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dante Perozzi.

Dante, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I come from a family of artists so I’ve always been making things. As soon as I honed my motor skills, I was making stuff—in particular, I was into crafting little villages out of paper. My artistic family, my mother specifically, instilled a sense of artistic confidence and comfortability in me. Between my two hands, I have seven fingers, which forced me to creatively figure out my own ways of doing things. Creativity is where I shined and I always knew that I would pursue something artistic. I was born in Zimbabwe but grew up in the states. I went to university in Charleston, SC and then Tucson, AZ studying arts management and graphic design, but eventually abandoned that coursework to study New Genre & Sculpture in Los Angeles, CA. I studied part time while working in the service industry and exhibiting my artwork when I could. My fine art back then was very architecturally inspired, in scale, content, and material. My material set was varied, ranging from found materials to bricks, concrete, and resin.
While studying sculpture at Cal State Long Beach, I fell in love with foundry and metal arts. My original intention for taking these courses had been to gain additional material knowledge to incorporate into my existing body of fine artwork. But, I was instantly smitten with the metal arts and found that making jewelry felt like an outlet for me, a kind of liberation from the heady conceptual art world I was working in. For the past year and a half, I have been living in the Denver area with my husband and two boys ages 4 and 14 months. My studio is located on our property, it is spacious and it’s filled with lots of natural light. I work on my own collections and teach semi-private workshops in it. I am looking forward to the massive flows of creativity coming out of my new space.

Has it been a smooth road?
Sure, in hindsight, things could have gone more smoothly had I known all I now know. But that is part of the journey. And each success along the way is sweeter when you’ve tasted a few sour apples. I would offer two seemingly obvious pieces of advice. First and foremost, seek out your community. Trust that most people have been in your shoes or a similar fit and will be more than happy to help you when you are just starting out. When I was beginning, I thought I had to figure it all out on my own. I thought in selling my jewelry I would be in a much more competitive, maybe even cut-throat environment. And while there certainly were a few bad-eggs I came across, the overwhelming majority of people I met when starting out freely offered supportive advice. I also met others who were in a similarly early stage of growth as I was and we stayed in contact often sharing discoveries and bouncing ideas off of each other. I do believe strongly in reciprocity and always tried to offer some kindness in return. But really, don’t be afraid to ask for help, advice or recommendations from those with more experience. And now, I enjoy a huge support network that I participate in and it’s one of the best things about my line of work. The second piece of advice… temper your expectations coming out of the gate. It’s not totally impossible that you will have immediate smashing success… but more than likely you will have to work through a few years of slow or sporadic growth. You will pass through mistakes and stages of learning while working on proving your creative concept and honing your business model. Celebrate each success no matter how small as they come and keep working toward the next one. Eventually, they’ll begin to add up.

We’d love to hear more about Dante Perozzi Jewelry.
Well, my background is in Fine Art. I made and exhibited large architectural and urban-inspired sculptural and installation work while living in Los Angeles. I worked with building materials like concrete, brick and wood and resin. The things that inspired that entire body of work still ring true and there is a strong sense of this history in my jewelry line which began as a translation of my sculptures into wearable form. My work is not heavily reliant on stones. Pieces are primarily metal- specifically silver, brass, and gold with occasional little stones sprinkled in- though my fine collection has much more of a gemstone presence. I work much in the way I did as an exhibiting artist. Each previous work inspires the next creating collections of work that have distinctive conversations happening within. My mission as a jewelry maker and designer is to provide timeless wearable art that moves beyond simple adornment, finding a balance between art and everyday expression through jewelry that revels in line, shape, and form. I want the wearer to feel beautiful, unique and connected to the creative inspiration through which my pieces are designed.

Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
It is all about the audio stream and audiobooks in my studio and home life. If my hands aren’t busy with work they are busy with my two young boys so listening is the only way to get any kind of reading or information during my days. I’ll often start the morning with news streams and podcasts but my go-to books are science-fiction and epic fantasy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.danteperozzi.com
• Phone: 310-254-5186
• Email: info@danteperozzi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danteperozzijewelry/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danteperozzi/

Image Credit:
Victoria Lora, Taylormikiska

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