ARTIST STATEMENT

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Lex Archibald and DJ Brelje share a passion for metal. The two met  while studying at San Diego State University. Lex and DJ create and collaborate from their home studio in Oceanside, CA. While working as independent artists and as a collaborative team, their work has been exhibited in various galleries and have been included in group and solo exhibitions.

Lex is from Pittsburgh, PA.  She currently teaches Metalsmithing at Mission Hills High School, where the program has evolved to offering beginning, advanced, and AP portfolio in Metalsmithing. She received her BFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and her MFA from San Diego State University. Her work has been published in Larks Books and exhibited in various galleries and museums nationally. Lex has a deep connection to yoga, which helps the way she thinks about life and in turn often inspires her art.

DJ was born in Minnesota but grew up in San Diego, CA. He currently works as a welder/fabricator creating custom work for homes and businesses. DJ received his BFA with an emphasis in Sculpture from San Diego State University and has public sculpture which can be seen in San Diego. DJ’s first experience working with metal was building lobster traps for his uncle, who was an independent lobster fisherman. This is where DJ found his labor of love in working with metal.

Pityfab is the name DJ and Lex use for their collaborative work. The name was inspired by Lex’s pitbull Sierra­Chub, and how their work evolves through the fabrication process. Together they take on commissions such as jewelry, sculpture, and furniture. The rings in Sleight of Hand are an example of Lex and DJ working together using Damascus steel and nonferrous metals.

DJ and Lex approach jewelry as miniature sculpture. Their desire to create volumetric forms in Damascus was the inspiration for this ring series. They took a traditional process and used it in unconventional ways. They combine their blacksmithing and metalsmithing skills to achieve cohesiveness in design, while emphasizing the Damascus. Their intuitive process begins with hand­forging the damascus, which is different types of steel layered, forged, and folded to achieve patterns. DJ and Lex start with the Damascus first, then allow its form and pattern to influence how the silver is to be fabricated to complete each ring.