Hilldale recipient creates artistic spectacles

Maybe it’s the lingering effect of that annoying grade-school catcall – “Hey, four-eyes!” – that steers people toward simple, quiet eyeglass designs, rather than some bold statement of individuality.

Richard Nelipovich, for one, wants people to think of their glasses as “jewelry for the face.” The UW–Madison senior in the School of Art is designing eyeglass frames that are innovative, distinctive and at times wildly impractical.

See also Hilldale undergraduate award winners

Nelipovich has already made 10 pairs of glasses, but is eyeing bigger things for his artwork. His ideas earned him a 1999 Hilldale Undergraduate Research Award, which were given this month to more than 100 students for senior-year research proposals.

Those curious about Nelipovich’s art can start with a little eye contact. His self-made glasses have rounded lenses with titanium frames held together by capsule-shaped studs at each side of the lens. The side pieces have a bent-metal flourish at the temple, which looks like the waves of a heart monitor reading.

Encouraged by his mentors, including art metals professor Fred Fenster, Nelipovich has made glasses purely for artistic expression. One pair has narrow oval slits framed by rusted chain links. Another one creates a bug-eyed look from two halves of a tea strainer, with the earpieces made of two bent and molded spoons. A third design is simply two round monocles hanging from adhesive medical patches, which would be pasted to the forehead.

“Most modern eyeglasses … are simply variations on a centuries-old theme,” he says. “Few designers communicate the fact that eyeglasses can be as far-out and surreal as the person wearing them.”

His ideas usually start in a sketchbook and are followed by models made from malleable material like clay or copper wire. The next step is to the machine shop, where he makes metal jigs with a series of pegs that allow him to precisely bend the metal.

But Nelipovich plans to add a high-tech element with his Hilldale award. He will use computer-aided design techniques at the College of Engineering to refine his designs and give them greater precision. He also would like to use 3-D technology to perfectly tailor glasses to an individual’s face scanned into the computer. He also plans to add to his palette of materials, by trying new designs in nickel and plastic.

The award has allowed Nelipovich to assemble faculty mentors from disparate fields. In addition to Fenster, he will be guided by art professor George Cramer, a computer art expert; Daniel Albert, chair of the ophthalmology and visual sciences department; and engineering associate professor Frank Fronczak. He is learning about the history of eyeglasses from Albert and plans to take Fronczak’s product-design class next fall.

Glasses have always been alluring to Nelipovich, even when other kids his age would have gladly pitched theirs. “I didn’t need glasses until I was 15, but I always wanted them as a kid,” he says. “I actually tried to fake a vision test once to get them, but it didn’t work.”

He stumbled onto eyeglass-making when he lost a pair of expensive titanium frames. It happened while he was working at a jeweler’s workshop in Stoughton, being taught the trade by owner Bill Howard. As a jewelry maker, Nelipovich didn’t think it would be such a leap to make glasses.

“I ended up making two pairs, but all the wire heating and bending was so tedious I vowed to never do it again,” he says. “I remember bending titanium while holding the torch in my teeth.”

But he discovered that eyeglass artistry was actually a small but budding movement that attracted its own art shows. He became more attracted to the art form after seeing what kind of wild and avant garde designs were out there. His glasses were recently shown in an Indiana art show called “Eye Con.” He also won an innovative design award from the art school.

Working with metals blends together his machine-shop background in high school and a past major in engineering. “Metals is definitely my passion; it really consumes me,” he says.

Nelipovich envisions all of this leading to his own design studio to custom-create glasses for the individual. He’s taking business classes next fall to prepare for the dream. He’s sure there are people like him who want a distinctive look without resorting to horn rims, cat eyes or granny glasses.

“If you have to wear them anyway,” he says, “why not take the opportunity to show off?”