What is Art Jewelry?
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
Whitney Couch's Store
Art jewelry is a relatively undiscovered field. What is art jewelry you may ask? It is wearable art made by artists and designers, handmade in limited production. The jewelry is conceptually driven with a contemporary aesthetic, as with most design today. The conceptual ideas are communicated in the jewelry through materials and or forms. The artists uses these concepts to formulate their jewelry.
In the Western World we are used to thinking of jewelry as a status symbol. How big is that rock on her finger? Did Cartier, or De Beers make it? Art jewelry breaks those boundaries creating a unique wearable art form. Some art jewelry has a light hand with the materials creating unique compositions with stones and a loose touch with the metal.
Art Jewelry is not just made from gemstones and precious materials. Often it can be made from an unusual source of materials. This can include everything from gum to lead. The artists use their metalsmithing skills to manipulate the industrial materials to transform them into landscapes of beauty.
One of the most interesting aspects of Art Jewelry is its interaction with the wearer. The wearer brings these objects to life. Just as a painting is changed by its setting or a chair morphs outside of its designer’s studio to each location it is used. Art jewelry, meant to be worn, takes on a new form when it is on the body. The wearer has the great opportunity to partake in this art form, by simply wearing it. “Design” has become the new buzz word, the cutting edge of cool, the driving trend from high end design shows to low end Target retail stores. Art jewelry is an opportunity to personalize design, to find something that turns you on and in the wearing of the object amplifies you as yourself. You and the artist join together to display their style and yours as something completely new and individual. As you will see in the work on this site it can’t stay a small field for long. The work is too good, the artists too talented and the consumer too educated to by-pass such an opportunity to be a part of a unique work of art.
Art jewelry is a relatively undiscovered field. What is art jewelry you may ask? It is wearable art made by artists and designers, handmade in limited production. The jewelry is conceptually driven with a contemporary aesthetic, as with most design today. The conceptual ideas are communicated in the jewelry through materials and or forms. The artists uses these concepts to formulate their jewelry.
In the Western World we are used to thinking of jewelry as a status symbol. How big is that rock on her finger? Did Cartier, or De Beers make it? Art jewelry breaks those boundaries creating a unique wearable art form. Some art jewelry has a light hand with the materials creating unique compositions with stones and a loose touch with the metal.
Art Jewelry is not just made from gemstones and precious materials. Often it can be made from an unusual source of materials. This can include everything from gum to lead. The artists use their metalsmithing skills to manipulate the industrial materials to transform them into landscapes of beauty.
One of the most interesting aspects of Art Jewelry is its interaction with the wearer. The wearer brings these objects to life. Just as a painting is changed by its setting or a chair morphs outside of its designer’s studio to each location it is used. Art jewelry, meant to be worn, takes on a new form when it is on the body. The wearer has the great opportunity to partake in this art form, by simply wearing it. “Design” has become the new buzz word, the cutting edge of cool, the driving trend from high end design shows to low end Target retail stores. Art jewelry is an opportunity to personalize design, to find something that turns you on and in the wearing of the object amplifies you as yourself. You and the artist join together to display their style and yours as something completely new and individual. As you will see in the work on this site it can’t stay a small field for long. The work is too good, the artists too talented and the consumer too educated to by-pass such an opportunity to be a part of a unique work of art.
