The DeKalb Area Women’s Center, 1021 State Street, hosted a free reception for local artist Kim Vorel Sunday.

“Reconciliation: A Study in Metal and Jewelry” compiled two years of Vorel’s work as an undergraduate working in NIU’s jewelry department.

Vorel explained her thoughts on people’s perceptions of jewelry making.

“One of the things I have been struck by is the opinion most of us tend to have regarding metal as something hard and unyielding, but I have come to think of it as something malleable — waiting to be formed,” Vorel said. “Reconciling and incorporating nature’s forms into the created art of metal and stone while speaking from my heart is the goal of my artwork.”

In addition to seeing metals as a limitless media, Vorel noted what she strives to do is integrate the stone in a way that allows for it to become a part of the piece, not the main focal point.

Senior interior architecture and metal and jewelry design major Brandi Pollard enthusiastically endorsed Vorel’s work.

“She has put a lot of hard work and creativity in them, and I think it shows,” she said.

Vorel’s work will be on display at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center until Nov. 30 and is open Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m. For information or for a private viewing, call the gallery at 758-1351.