Most Interesting People 2011: Brittany Dell'aglio-Mitchell

Why she's interesting ... Dell'aglio-Mitchell, a recent graduate of the University of Akron, was one of 20 young sculptors to receive the International Sculpture Center's 2010 Student Award last year. Her Sweet Nothing series includes playful yet sensual nylon sculptures stuffed with alpaca wool and adorned with rhinestones and glitter. The works embody themes of innocence and sexuality.

How she became a sculptor ... "Once I hit high school, I became really, really interested in photography, and the funny thing is, I was building these really elaborate costumes and objects for my photographs. I was making a sculpture to go in my photograph, but I never considered it sculpture. Looking back, I'd been doing this forever."

Starting over ... "It was a month or two away from my big senior exiting show, which is sort of like your thesis, and I looked at my work and I thought, You know what? I don't like any of this, so I scrapped it all." Her original project, adult-sized footie pajamas sewn together in various embraces, also incorporated rhinestones and glitter, and she decided that this was the only element she wanted to keep.

Under the gun ... Dell'aglio-Mitchell worked 80-hour weeks to complete a new set of pieces for her final project, which included her award-winning Sweet Nothing sculptures and silicone and glitter Money Shot installation.

The beauty of art ... "There's a magic and unspeakable quality that I think really, really good art has — something that you can't put your finger on, but it works, and it's wonderful, and you want to spend time with it."

Glitter girl ... "I've loved it probably since the day I was born. I probably came out throwing handfuls of glitter. So, growing up, there was always glitter at the house, in my bed, just everywhere."