Hannah Keefe: Chain Jewelry Shaped by Gravity

Hannah Keefe is a contemporary jewelry artist from Los Angeles, United States. Through an unconventional metalworking technique that lets silver solder flow freely across brass chain, she has developed a highly recognizable personal style. Her official site presents the work as a practice built around jewelry and material form.

The core technique is a story of contradiction and tension. Keefe breaks with traditional metalwork’s “clean, precise” soldering standard, deliberately allowing molten silver solder to seep, uncontrolled, into the links of brass or silver chain.

Letting Gravity Enter the Work

Hannah Keefe once described it this way: “I treat each piece like an architect, not fighting gravity but relying on it.” When the pieces are suspended or worn, scattered chains settle into harmony under the force of gravity. The structures formed by the solder create negative space, allowing air to move through them.

Her work usually takes the form of necklaces and earrings. The thickness, density, and color gradation of the chain links shape each piece. Her jewelry resembles architectural fabric, holding both strength and lightness. It appears in galleries and boutiques around the world and is also carried by institutional shops such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art store.