Originally from the Chicago area, Jill Baker Gower received her bachelor of science degree with an emphasis in metals from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2003 and her master of fine arts degree in metals and jewelry from Arizona State University in 2006. She has served as Assistant Professor of Art, Metals/Jewelry and 3D Design at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey since 2007. Gower has led workshops at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and has been included in numerous exhibitions throughout the country. In 2009 she co-organized Decorative Resurgence at the Rowan University Art Gallery, an exhibition that surveyed contemporary artists’ use of decorative forms to explore such issues as beauty, gender, identity, and class.

In her current work, which includes wearable objects as well as sculpture, Gower combines precious and distinctly non-precious materials. Richly multi-dimensional, this work is informed by her interest in metalwork and jewelry from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Victorian periods. She is particularly fascinated by silver toiletry objects, lockets, containers, and make-up items. However, the historical references in her work are viewed through a contemporary lens – one in which she explores how the media, marketing, advertising, and packaging shape our understanding of beauty and our perception of ourselves. Her work subtly and humorously critiques the pursuit of beauty through constant body alteration as well as society’s increasing obsession with material possessions.