ENES

Press & Writing

Selected writing, interviews, institutional features, and archival material documenting Gustav Reyes’s work in contemporary art jewelry, wood, material process, and the relationship between making and the natural world.

Together, these sources trace the development of the practice from the early wooden-ring work through sculptural jewelry, material research, and later institutional recognition.

Explore the Studio Archive → — a curated record tracing the early wooden-ring experiments, the development of a broader sculptural language, periods of pause, and the return to the studio.

Selected Features

2020 · Phoebe Mogharei, “This Pilsen Artisan Makes Oak Couture”, Chicago Magazine, May 22, 2020. The surviving indexed record describes Reyes transforming unwanted wood into objects of art in his Pilsen studio.

2017 · Brigitte Martin, “Around Life’s Curves”, American Craft.

2017 · Sarah Grosspietsch, “Artists Up Close: Witnessing the Beautiful Manipulation of Wood,” Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Ornament, Vol. 36.2 · Patrick R. Benesh-Liu, “The Irrepressible Spirit”. Six-page profile on Gustav Reyes’s creative process, bent-wood practice, material philosophy, studio life, and the relationship between Gustav Reyes and Simply Wood Rings.

2012 · Metalsmith, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 14–15 · Andrea DiNoto, “A Bent for Wood”. Two-page feature on bentwood techniques, salvaged materials, contemporary jewelry, rings, Organic Coil, and Reyes’s ACC Baltimore presentation.

2011 · Stephanie Manriquez, “Vida En Madera,” Revista Contratiempo.

2010 · Annie Osburn, “Trends: Wood,” Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.

2010 · Bethany Emerson, “With This Ring,” Richmond Bride.

2009 · Victoria Gomelsky, “Warm, Honest, Wooden,” The New York Times.

2009 · Garth Johnson, 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, pp. 124–125, Jewelry + Adornments.

2008 · Jessica Sedgwick, “Jewels of the City,” Chicago Sun-Times.

2007 · “With This Ring…,” Woodshop News.

Institutional Record

Museum of Arts and Design, New York · MAD About Jewelry 2015 artist profile · Collection record: Coil Brooch, 2013.

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven · American Jewelry: The Susan Grant Lewin Collection — the Gallery’s account places Reyes’s steam-bent wood jewelry within the collection’s account of contemporary studio jewelry.

JOYA Barcelona · JOYA Barcelona Art Jewellery Fair 2014, documented by Klimt02.

Additional Online Records

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago · Chicago Designer Showcase — featured designer record.

Artsy · Gustav Reyes artist profile, submitted by Gallery Loupe.

American Craft · “Gustav Reyes’ Wearable Wood Art”, 2011.

Ornament · “Smithsonian Craft Optimism”, 2021 — show coverage including Reyes’s wood jewelry.

Writing by Gustav Reyes

2010 · Gustav Reyes, “WoodWorking Tips for Jewelers,” Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.

The studio archive also preserves earlier drafts, interviews, process notes, and historical Simply Wood Rings material. These sources are kept distinct so the archive can clearly separate published material, historical studio writing, documentary records, and later editorial context.

Studio Archive →

Studio Journal

Selected historical writing from 2009–2012 is preserved with its original dates and wording as part of the Studio Archive.

Read the Journal →