COSTUME COSTUME PHOTOS

The New York SOFA show was last weekend, and I was thrilled to have my work taken to the exhibit by Sienna Gallery and The Opulent Project. TOP organized a display called COSTUME COSTUME, which featured handmade contemporary jewelry by emerging artists who deal with the subject of adornment, costuming, and jewelry. TOP installed a photobooth in their space so that attendees of SOFA could don their favorite jewels and have their picture taken wearing them! I hear the lines were long for the photobooth, and that it was a 'mindblowing' installation... Congratulation to The Opulent Project for having such a stimulating and successful exhibit!

I've selected some of my favorite photobooth photos of people wearing my work below. As I wasn't able to get down to NYC this past weekend, it was great to be able to check out these images and to see people were enjoying themselves.

That Chain So Crazy!

Note: I've been working on this blog post for quite a while now, and I'm honestly not sure it's going to make any sense, so good luck reading!

One of my favorite things about jewelry is it's role as a communication device which turns the wearer into a billboard expressing the wearers beliefs. Traditionally, jewelry also doubles as a portable asset or an outward display of wealth.

Jewelry in excess is nothing new in the world of hip hop, think back to the iconic images of RUN DMC wearing twisted gold chains, with oversized pendants. Since they first stepped onto the scene in 1984, RUN DMC helped to create an image that has influence generations of musicians after them. It's been over 25 years since the pioneer of hip hop artists donning opulent gold chains, diamonds, pendants, watches, and other oversized baubles and the jewelry is becoming bigger, brighter, and more expensive.

Today, chains and pendants are becoming so large that they are almost unwearable. Artists are layering them in a melee of gold and glitz. Some things haven't changed at all, like NAS's necklace at the right, he could have reached back in time and taken it right off of Jam Master Jay's neck. But, some things are evolving at a rapid pace. Gone are the days of sporting a stolen Mercedes hood ornament on a chain around your neck as pendants are growing larger and encrusted in colored pave set diamonds.

I have to say that I really do appreciate this hyper-opulence that is being embraced by the hip hop culture. It's steeped in history (from acknowledging previous hip hop and rap artists to embracing African cultures), and at the same time there is a drastic over-the-top-ness that is so obscene that I can't do anything but to embrace it. I think that there is a silent understanding that some of these pieces are completely tongue-in-cheek, like the huge dollar sign pendant that Nigo is sporting below... It's completely a redundant piece (joke?) that is made of money, about money.

I often find myself thinking about menswear jewelry, and what it's role in society is. The examples in this post are just one facet of that genre.. and such an eye catching, mouth watering facet it is! For more examples of gold, diamonds, and other examples of urban jewelry, be sure to check out one of my new favorite blogs: YOU SEE THAT CHAIN?

Nigo, wearing multiple pave chains and pendants.

Pharrell, Diamond pave pendants and multiple chains.

Lil Wayne, Diamond Grill

Kanye West, Horus Necklace by Ambush

Kanye West, Eye Am Not Alone Ring by Ambush

Soulja Boy, The Work Is Yours Necklace

Soulja Boy

COSTUME COSTUME

I'm excited to be part of The Opulent Projects upcoming project, COSTUME COSTUME, which will be making it's debut at Sienna Gallery's booth at the NYC SOFA exhibit from April 14th through the 17th. I'm really excited to be part of such a fun and conceptual project that presents handmade, contemporary jewelry at an accessible price to young collectors.

COSTUME COSTUME is a collection of work made by emerging contemporary art jewelers. It is an exploration of costume jewelry as subject, jewelry about jewelry. You'll find the COSTUME COSTUME show in the Sienna Gallery booth (#301), their installation includes a photo-booth where the guests are invited to document themselves wearing the opulent baubles that are part of the show.

Participating artists as of April 2011 Mikael Arsjö, Kate Bauman, Michael Dale Bernard, Thyra Bessette, Sarah Kate Burges, Erin Gardner, Anna Hinkes, Rory Hooper, Courtney Kemp, Julia Elizabeth Louise, Jimin Park, Mary Hallam Pearse, Earl Ross, Leslie Skalin, Theresa Sterner, Monika Strasser, Kristi Sword, Islay Taylor, Melissa Tolar, Ben Ulsh. Organized by Erin Gardner from The Opulent Project.

My Future Self Is Winning!

The mill space in this image may not look like a lot, but it's my future home. Creative home, that is... Sometime in the next couple of months (after some cleaning and clearing) this will be my new studio space! I'm excited to be sharing 3,000sq feet with some really talented friends, in a huge space that will be drastically closer to where I live. The building used to be the site of the Eastern Butcher Block Company, is environmentally clean and abuts a river. Sounds like paradise to me! I can't wait to see how it looks after its prepped for us to move in!

For the sake of Opulence...

I am flattered to have recently been asked by The Opulent Project to participate in one of their ongoing projects, COSTUME COSTUME. As a result, I've been working on making lots of the Pro Nailz pieces the past couple of weeks. As you can tell from the image to the right, I've logged many hours painting nails while watching hours of terrible movies. I can barely tell the difference between my living room and a professional nail salon at this point.

The exhibition that I've been making the work for, COSTUME COSTUME, investigates the nature and subject of costume jewelry... Costume jewelry has been traditionally viewed as a mass produced, low price point, fashionable yet disposable variety of jewelry. According to The Opulent Project, 'the original intention of costume jewelry is not to become collectibles or heirlooms but to be fashionable and dispensable when the trend passes. Frequently this jewelry is a mimicry of existing unattainable luxury jewelry or simply of a notion of traditional jewelry.'

The goal of COSTUME COSTUME is to present the limited edition works of designers who have tweaked the identity of costume jewelry to address the conceptual issues associated with this genre of jewelry. The pieces that are represented in this show challenge concepts of value, material, historicism, and identity. 'By replication and alteration we seek to further remove the simulated jewelry from its origin, thus costuming the costumed.... COSTUME COSTUME.'

I shipped the work that I'm contributing to COSTUME COSTUME out this morning to the ladies of The Opulent Project. It all fit into a small sized USPS priority rate box, which is always nice because the shipping rates are tolerable but also discouraging because it seems like so much artwork and labor should take up more physical space.

Check it out: COSTUME COSTUME will be exhibited with Sienna Gallery at SOFA NY in April 2011, and will then travel to the Heidi Lowe Gallery in August.

New Traditional Jewellery: True Colours

Though I don't think that I'll be able to make this exhibition, I wanted to share the information for this years New Traditional Jewellery showcase. The show is a biannual show which is hosted at the Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem in the Netherlands. This years theme is True Colours, which is more than welcome as we exit the drab season of winter and begin to look for the colorful signs of spring.

Some of my favorites are pictured here:
The top image is a necklace by Tamara Gruner. I appreciate her monochromatic palate, and how the uniformity of the composition transforms the recycled materials into decorative objects that seem much more opulent than they are. The middle image is a necklace titled Show Me Colours 2010, by Denise Julia Reytan, and again features a composition of repurposed materials. The hyper saturation of the colors create a vibrancy that just makes my mouth water! Finally, the bottom image of the multi‐coloured Urban Tribal Necklace of Amanda Caines uses rejected telephone and computer wires made of plastic in bright colors, winding wool around them, fastens vintage fabrics to them and subsequently decorates them with beads.

Gah, I cannot wait for the catologue for this exhibition to come out!
Here is the mission statement for the show:

New Traditional Jewellery is a bi-annual international design competition in the field of contemporary jewellery. Historical or ethnographical carriers of meaning are taken as an incentive to generate new forms. In addition to this general framework there is also a specific theme. After traditional costume, faith and intimacy, this year’s theme is ‘True Colours’. Literally this refers to colour, for example in relation to materials and pigments. Throughout the ages colours and materials, such as gold and silver, often determined the meaning and value of pieces of jewellery. In the 1970’s and ‘80s other materials, such as textiles and Perspex, were also used.

As a result there emerged a new ‘language of colours’. This was an important step in the emancipation of contemporary jewellery. Therefore, ‘True Colours’ is about the history, meaning, value, magic and power of colour. Figuratively speaking, ‘True Colours’ could also mean “showing your true colours” or ‘to unveil your true self’. In this sense the theme could be approached from a social point of view, in which today’s multicoloured society is the main focus of attention. Colour contains information about status and social position. Colour can shout, curse, emancipate, help, judge and segregate.

Colours is a statement.

Solder Central

I've got my work cut out for me today...

Jewelry From Found Objects

About a year ago, I was asked to participate in a book that fellow jeweler, Heather Skowood, was writing about jewelry made from found objects. Obviously, I was flattered to be a part of Heathers' project, which focuses on the use of found objects, and recycled or reclaimed materials in jewelry. The book includes work by a grouping of amazing international artists whose work supports the books topic, and I have some work included from my RISD thesis show. In addition to being a curated collection of work, the book also features some how-to projects as well.

The book is due to be released from the publisher on March 11th, which is just around the corner! But, if you can't wait that long, Jewelry From Found Objects is already available for presale on Amazon in the States and the UK. I can't wait to check out the end result, and am excited for Heather's accomplishment!

Pro Nailz!!

I am so excited to have my most recent round of documentation back from my photographer, Maureen Keaveny. The images came out wonderfully, and she really did a wonderful job capturing the essence of the pieces that I've recently completed. I'm most proud of the series of knuckle dusters that I've been working on, which feature bezel set acrylic nails.

I'd posted a while back about the process of teaching myself how to paint fancy nails, as well as the process of building the rings themselves. Now after unknown hours invested in this project, my first round of finished pieces has been completed, and I am thrilled.

Also, be sure to check out the music video for Kid Sister's song Pro Nails, below. I've become completely obsessed with this video, and have to admit that it was a major inspiration for this project.

To see the other images of my most recent work, visit my website here.

David LaChapelle

I've been away from my studio for a bit, and have been spending more time 'doing research.' Maybe I'm trying to justify my growing obsession with pop-culture, but I find myself recently attracted to highly saturated images and colors, high gloss, sparkly jewels, gold and diamond encrusted medallions, and just really extravagant objects and imagery. I'm not quite sure what it is about these stereotyped displays of wealth and culture that I find to enticing, but there is something about how these commercial goods and images so bluntly stroke my sensibilities and entice my inner consumer.

On a recent trip around the Internet, I came across this imaged by David LaChapelle. I have really always liked his use of hyper-saturated colors, and the high sheen that everything in his images seem to have. His subjects become plasticy objects, and everything is equalized into a glossy visual melee. Bordering on pop-grotesgue, he creates images that are visual cacophonies which seem to be suspended from time and place.

Davids imagery has the ability to transform even the classiest subject into an objectified commodity. The people in his photographs uncannily seem to lose their identity and morph into anonymous objects that could almost be mass produced.