Tara Locklear

"Harnessing each day with a unique sense of self is what my jewelry collections stand for. My designs—a collaborative effort with my skateboarding community—celebrate the visual and textural history of each of their broken skateboards in the form of jewelry. This material, my jewelry DNA, represents my voice of everyday jewelry: wearable but different."

Tara Locklear is inspired by industrial and social culture materials, but is driven by her love of color. Her material choices have unique graphic and color qualities. Exploring and forming them are at the heart of her practice. When paired with her sterling silver designs, the worn street patinas of the broken skateboards she uses create playful but powerful jewelry that evokes memories wherever it is worn.

Locklear's jewelry is fabricated in two congruent studios at her home in Knightdale, North Carolina. Each of her skateboard parts is cut and carved in her woodshop, then hand sanded to a fine finish before being set into her final designs.

Locklear received her BFA in jewelry/metal design at East Carolina University. Her recycled skateboard material journey began there, where she discovered her internal need to champion the unconventional by finding the value in the overlooked—while honing her hand skills and visual language. Today, she continues her journey, pushing her work in the form of production and one-of-a-kind pieces.

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Selected Exhibitions & Awards
LOOT - Mad about Jewelry, Museum of Art and Design, New York City, NY, 2016 and 2019
American Craft Council Show Atlanta, Cobb Gallleria Center, Atlanta, GA, 2017-2019 | received Award of Excellence
Smithsonian Craft Show, National Building Museum, Washington, DC, 2015-2016
Philadelphia Museum Show, Philadelphia Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA, 2016-2020
SOFA Chicago - Pistachios Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL, 2015-2018 | invited SNAG speaker 2016
Collections
Mint Museum Permanent Collection, Mint Museum , Charlotte, NC, 2019 - acquisition
Racine Art Museum Permament Collection, Racine Art Musum, Racine, Wisconsin, 2015 - acquisition