interview by : Lizz Schumer
photographer : Luke Copping
art director : Meagan Hendrickson
Working as an industrial mechanic in the post-industrial wasteland of Northeastern NJ to designing jewelry in Los Angeles seems like an implausible transition. But that’s exactly what Rich Sandomeno did. Out of that risk was born Spragwerks, the jewelry company that fuses Rich’s passion for industrial design with his vision of a post-apocalyptic world where the boundaries between the organic and mechanic dissolve.
“My grandfather was a mechanic, my father was a mechanic, so I sort of fell into it out of not having the confidence to make art,” Rich explained. “One day I woke up and realized I didn’t want to be a mechanic for the rest of my life, so I started taking night classes at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. I only took about two classes in jewelry making, but it just stuck, so I built a small shop, people started liking it, and things started to take off. Eventually I realized I had to give it 100% or not do it at all,” he said. “I had a condo to sell, so I gave myself a year to devote completely to my jewelry, to Spragwerks, so I started traveling around to shows and tattoo conventions, meeting people and selling my stuff. That’s what really got me started.”
read the full feature in the December 09 Issue
