I’m Marissa Molinaro, an artist creating salient sterling silver jewelry, and art of other media, out of my studio in Brooklyn, New York.

I approach my jewelry practice from my role as an artist. Challenging boundaries and customs of the industry, my practice is fluid and intuitive yet informed. The work comes from a place of curiosity and critical thinking, and the pieces must have substance. This, I believe, positions the work to be received with individual interpretation and deep connection. It’s meaningful to me for others to relate to my work in a way that empowers them to feel emboldened and connected to themselves. The work exists to be inhabited.

My signature aesthetic is rooted in striking form and unflinching material. It's infused with surreal yet minimalist characteristics that remind us of the phenomena of experience and the interior mind. I find the work to feel assertive yet restrained, potent and impassive.

I enjoy the minimalism and tradition of creating work out of a single precious metal, without the fuss of stones, plating, and other materials. The result is a sense of simple, solid, pure integrity.

As a one-woman studio, I conceive of, prototype, and create each piece to a painstakingly high standard. Some pieces I fabricate directly from metal, and some include a casting process   –   for this I work with the best local casters in the Jewelry District in NYC. All of my material is recycled .925 silver, now a standard in the small-batch jewelry industry.

BACKGROUND
Grounding and informing my work is a background in art history and fine art, with a focus on the figures and thought of postmodern and modern art. As an independent artist, my jewelry work is exploratory, taking shape from a cerebral, probing, and sometimes strategic place. It’s guided by the impact of form and material, and activated by you, the wearer.

Several years ago I was suddenly compelled to work in sterling silver as a form of sculpture. I had a desire for an ambitious, physical process working with my hands in three dimensions, and I knew I wanted to work with metal. What I found in silversmithing was an inspiring way of thinking, an empowering process, and a highly sharable medium. I discovered that jewelry could have substance, and that it’s work that reaches people in an intimate and lasting way.

I view this work as a collective way to engage with art   –   inserting it into every day life and making it more accessible to more people.

MATERIAL
The insistent materiality of metal is profound and commanding. It has such presence, and it symbolizes a kind of formidableness I admire. The relationship between the power of metal and the willful yet sensitive nature of humans is interesting to me   –   the power dynamic is a shifting one. Artists like Richard Serra and Anish Kapoor make the most of this back-and-forth with their immense steel sculptures and highly reflective surfaces, respectively. They manipulate a robust material, yet the result prompts vulnerability in the viewer as they examine their experience in the presence of the work.

COLOR
With its reflective whiteness, sterling silver captures and holds everything around it with a sense of gravity, yet it also mirrors it outward, like a window into a black hole. There is an unexpected darkness in the color white, as it feels like emptiness, nothing, blankness . However, it also represents the chaos of everything, as all colors of light combined become white light. I’m drawn to the existential discordance of white (silver) being nothing and everything at the same time.

FORM
Material signifies differently according to its form   –   itself an evocative element. Form for me is a syntactic playground for representing or eliciting ideas or impressions.

It’s this marriage of material and form in the context of people that is so stimulating for me. They come together as a rich mode of communication.

THE MEDIUM
As a medium, working within the scale and context of jewelry creates constructive constraints to both work within and breach. Further, working within the traditionally commercial industry of jewelry has created an exciting invitation to not be bound by convention and in fact challenge the narrative that divides jewelry and fine art.

All pieces are made-to-order unless otherwise noted.  As such, production times can vary.  Please allow 3-4 weeks to receive your order, including shipping. If you have a rush order or require a more narrow time frame, please contact me with more information. 

When your order is complete, it will be shipped out immediately via USPS First-Class Mail for a $5 flat fee in the US. Once a tracking number is provided, I cannot be held responsible in the unlikely event of any unreceived packages.

International shipping is currently a special request and will be calculated on a case-by-case basis. Please contact me.

All pieces are made with recycled .925 Sterling Silver; any scrap metal produced is collected and recycled. Recipients are encouraged to reuse or recycle their order’s packaging. ✌︎

While not particularly delicate, sterling silver will scratch and lose its shine over time. A polishing cloth will easily bring back its luster, and each order will be accompanied by a complimentary polishing cloth to keep your piece shining bright.

As an investment, it’s important to be mindful of protecting your piece from coarse materials like concrete or brick and certain kinds of impact.

When in storage, air and moisture can lead to tarnish. While this can be removed with a polishing cloth, it’s best to store your piece protected from the elements. Anti-tarnish strips can also be placed with your piece in storage.

Once any jewelry becomes ✳︎yours✳︎, it begins a long life with you and likely beyond. Any wear developed over time is part of its story and the intimate relationship you share.

Sterling silver has been used for centuries to make jewelry, currency, useful objects and objets d'art. Bringing thoughtfully made sterling silver jewelry into your life enters you into a rich tradition. ✧

Returns on purchases from molinarostudio.com are eligible for store-credit only. If you’d like any additional information about a piece, don’t hesitate to reach out, I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.

Return requests must be made within 7 days of your order receipt, and returns must be shipped within 7 days of return authorization. To initiate return authorization, please contact me with your order number and reason for return.

If your reason for return is a sizing issue, please refer to the special considerations noted in the sizing guide before choosing to return.

All custom sizes are final sale.

Returned items must be returned in their exact original packaging and must not be worn, altered, or damaged in any way. Return shipping costs are the patron’s responsibility, and shipping costs on your original order are nonrefundable.

I reserve the right to deny any returns if the pieces sent back are in poor condition or do not meet the above criteria.

If approved upon receipt, a gift card code in the exact amount of your returned order will be issued via email within two business days.

If you purchased a Marissa Molinaro piece from another retailer, please consult that retailer’s applicable policies. I am not responsible for items purchased from other retailers.

Due to the work’s hand-made nature, there may be minor variations between pieces, and dimensions are approximate.