I rip apart broken electronics and turn them into jewelry
My whole life I've enjoyed tearing things apart to look inside. My first memory of this was with a beloved purple flower clock I had. I failed to put it back together, but I had a wonderful time playing with all the parts.
More recently, I've been learning about circuits and putting together electronics, which has me seeing the intricate beauty and geometry they have. Something built purely for function, but beautiful anyway.
I have a background in stained glass, so looking at all these solder points on each circuit gave me the idea that maybe these broken circuit boards I'm playing around with weren't as useless as I thought. I love working with these pieces, because I get to pick and choose what sections of each board I see something in, and use just that part. I can find many beautiful sections from just one board.
My name! Alyssa Cooper just pushed together, ALYOOPER. Honestly, I wish I could take credit for this, but the credit goes to my Mom. Upon receiving my first iPod around 2012, my mom had the foresight to set up an email and apple id for me beforehand, since I played basketball at the time, alyooper just seemed right. The nickname stuck, mostly because it was also my Xbox gamertag as I grew up playing Minecraft with my friends. So here we are now, still sporting the ALYOOPER name. Maybe it reminds me of a simpler time, staying up until 3am on a school night power-mining with my friends.
As I transitioned out of being in the film program at OSU, I discovered the glass program. I immediately fell in love. Fast forward, I'm working restoring old stained glass church windows from a church in WV for the summer. This really helped me hone in on my stained glass skills, especially with lead panels and soldering. This is still a large part of my work which will show up in the shop eventually. Particularly, I have plans for some recycled glass salvaged from the windows of my old childhood church. Same idea as what you're seeing now, just different material.
Based in Ohio, I source all the materials, see potential in them, and build them. I photograph, ship, solder, and do all the social media work you may see. Got an email? That's from me. Typically typing with at least one snack in my hand.
Has sat on every piece before shipping. Gives feedback by rearranging things to work surface. Strong opinions on what constitutes done.
Tests structural integrity of pieces by pushing them toward table edges, when it survives, it's ready. Very consistent, especially about meal times.
Born with a cleft soft palate, you may see her sticking her tongue out often. This doesn't stop her from overseeing the creative direction of the entire operation. She's extremely unbothered, and communicates exclusively through squeaks, snorts, and slow blinks. She's never been wrong. We don't question her anymore.
More electronics jewelry, as well as the appearance of stained glass pieces, eventually garments and other things made from recycled materials.
Subscribe if you want to be in the know when new stuff drops. Runs are small and I don't restock — When a piece is gone, it's gone!
