Bob Pierron has never led a particularly quiet life. A jeweler for 30 years, he also ran jewelry classes, exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, produced sculptures in wood–including an abstract series for the Woodwork Corporation of America–and made tiny masks out of silver and gold wire, which he sold out of his gallery, Studio 23, on Lincoln Avenue.
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Over the past 17 years, Pierron has found new uses for Tupperware lids, cutting boards, plastic Easter eggs, wheels from toy trucks, wooden bowls, drawer pulls, furniture legs, and picture frames. He’s back to making masks.
Pierron is especially happy when he finds bottle caps or a box of the white plastic rings used to reinforce holes in loose-leaf paper. “Those are great for eyes,” he says.
In his bedroom is Seven Samurai, a set of masks created by pasting yellow paper onto hospital trays, then decorating them with black calligraphy. On the wall hang his versions of Adam and Eve, made from wooden cutting boards. Eve has a wig and bigger eyes.
