Editor’s note: Every Wednesday, variety writer Katie Andrew will profile a different local artist. This is the sixth installment in the series.

Baby-doll images against delicate colors, fragile little feet and faces and shoulders, crumpled socks in the corner – Kathleen Janvier’s style is unmistakable.

In a fantasy land of charm and simplicity, those awkward moments of adolescence translate into an elementary beauty on her pallet.

“Martijn van Wagtendonk introduced me to the idea of jewelry,” said Janvier, who graduated in December with a degree in jewelry/metals and English.

“He realized that most of my work was very obsessed with detail and relatable to the body. He encouraged me to take a metals class and be in an atmosphere where those things are prized and expanded upon.”

Expand she did. Janvier said that while she jumped through the hoops of drawing and painting classes, making wearable art is where she belongs.

“Jewelry is a place where I can work very intimately with my hands. It’s small, it’s intimate, it’s delicate and it’s rough at times.”

Janvier emphasized the theme of human interaction and intimacy to her line of broaches, which she displayed at her exit show in November.

“Jewelry being specifically placed on the body as a form of public communication, it’s very relatable to all of those ideas.”

Janvier’s line of broaches expresses a theme of transparent childish curiosity, slightly reminiscent of the Morton salt girl.

“They’re meant to be unequally sexual,” she said. “They’re about an adolescent notion of learning about yourself and your own sexuality. They’re all moments of awkwardness – of knowing yourself and not knowing yourself.”

Despite the artistic credentials of many jewelry makers, the traditional art world is sometimes hesitant to embrace their discipline as “high art.”

“It is hard because there are a lot of jewelers right now who are very adamant about [getting] their work [to] be considered ‘higher art,’” she said. “I’ve spent time in that battleground, wanting to get in the club, but I think with this series, I’ve found my voice.”

Janvier said she is at a place in her artistic career where she doesn’t need to see her work displayed next to a painting to know they’re on equal ground.

“It is still hard at times knowing it will be years and years before jewelry is seen at the Guggenheim, but it’s an exciting time right now because we’re making steps.”