Elegant & Evocative: Forged Beauty
by Shawanda Miller
Exhibition Dates: August to January 2026
Location: Terminal 1 Ticketing Hall
Elegant & Evocative: Forged Beauty highlights a collection of chainmail headpieces, garments, and accessories, merging the legacy of armor with modern sophistication. Chainmail, historically emblematic of protection, now serves as a medium for expression, resilience, and identity.
The collection features scalemail headpieces and fluid designs that glitter like liquid metal, each creation embodying craftsmanship and patience. Other pieces incorporate the Japanese weave, renowned for its distinctive appeal.
The collection also includes chainmail clothing, including the Fishtail chainmail dress, which is made using jump rings — small circular metal rings — and is detailed with a contrasting chainmail weave to embellish the bottom. The process of creating chainmail clothing is labor intensive, opening and closing each jump ring individually, and can take weeks to complete.
Every link and pattern reflect centuries of adornment and defense. These pieces serve as statements of presence and artistry, highlighting the human ability to forge beauty.
About the Artist: Shawanda Miller
Shawanda Miller is a chainmail artist based in University City, Missouri. She creates unique and custom handmade pieces, inspired by her love of history, fantasy, and nature. She has been making chainmail for more than seventeen years, experimenting with new techniques and designs, and pursuing the challenge of creating something new and beautiful.
Shawanda began jewelry-making during her first year at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis. She continued her studies in fine art at Bethany College and Columbia College where she earned her Bachelors in Fine Art. Her jewelry and fashion have been featured at events including Fair University City, RAW Artists STL, The Factory Fashion Show, Afropunk STL, and Saint LAAA Fab. In 2024, she became an Artist-in-Residence at St. Louis Artworks, where she developed and taught a chainmail class rooted in her own designs and techniques.
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