Hannah Reynoso Toussaint
she/they
Athens, GA, USA
Hannah Toussaint is a metalsmith located in Athens, Georgia completing her M.F.A. in Metalsmithing and Jewelry at the University of Georgia. She earned her B.A. from the University of New Orleans, and completed a post-baccalaureate program at the University of North Texas in 2022 for jewelry and metalsmithing. Hannah identifies as a queer latine maker with a special interest in the materiality of glass. Her work has been exhibited nationally including the Metal Museum in Memphis, TN and at New York City Jewelry Week 2023. She most recently co-curated an exhibition that will be opening early 2025 at the Fuller Craft Museum including 30 jewelry artists exploring the potentiality of the bolo tie.
“This piece was created to distort the viewer’s perception and challenge the act of looking. Through uses of vibrant, saturated colors and iridescent film, a visceral sensation is evoked, distorting the image beyond recognition. I aim to bring peripheral found materials to the foreground through assemblage to challenge our assumptions about value and belonging.
I often find fragments of once used objects that have since been broken and forgotten as placeholders for the queer body. Using peripheral objects as material symbolizes the oft familiar queer experience of feeling undesirable or other. In the compositions I create, I imagine these fragments engaging with one another, becoming a found family of forgotten objects and emboldened when worn on queer bodies.”
“My work uses metal to connect and frame found materials, bringing them together perpetually. I use found materials in my work to hold a space for objects, people, or things that may be dismissed by others. In a way, these found materials represent a facet of queerness, being that they've been found in a peripheral position. My work elevates these materials, brings them to the foregroud, and treats them with emphasis and care. In my personal life, it is always the queer community who comes through in this way- my found family."
How does your work relate to the theme connection?
“My creative process is a mad dash between planning, discovering, and executing! Through the process of working with assembled or collaged materials, I feel like I am always using metalwork as a support or framework which connects my objects together, similar to a fine jeweler using metal for precious stone settings."
What role does connection play in your creative process?
"Holding Space", glass, silver, postcard, found electrical parts, broken ceramic, found coral skeleton, steel, 2" x 3" x .75", 2024What connection(s) does your queerness make to the world around you?
“The most important connection my queerness helps to foster, is a loving and generous community. Queer folx know how to show up for one another, hold space for one another, take care of each other. This can be through simple acts of connection- a text or phone call, a shared meal, or showing up to support someone through a hard time. Finding the queer community within the craft and metals community has been one of the best parts of my practice. Connecting with others over craft is so rewarding, it helps me feel seen and heard, and gives me the support I need to push through."