Yes, this is going to be another post about jewellery as I seem to be on a "jewellery crave" for some kind of reason. But, as you know, throughout the centuries jewellery played an important part in different cultures, so it’s definitely not my fault if I find rather pleasant writing about this topic.
The Cro-Magnons, ancestors of the Homo sapiens, used teeth, bones and stones to adorn themselves; shells were common in other cultures, while the Egyptians were famous for favouring gold pieces decorated with coloured glass.
There is a sort of primitive beauty in Stephanie Simek’s jewellery collection. Since she developed her line of accessories in the summer of 2007, the young Portland-based performance artist, photographer and jewellery designer has experimented with the most disparate and atypical materials, creating pieces that have the clean lines of Yuki Mitsuyasu’s jewels and the quirkiness of Moschino’s.
A while back she launched a rather uncanny necklace featuring a pair of eyelashes made entirely of human hair. The necklace was recently included in an exhibition at Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Craft. Her next project was the “Powder Necklace”, that featured a pearlised Turbo Cinereus shell filled with shimmering powder that could be released through the tiny holes drilled into the bottom and sprinkle the wearer’s décolletage.
The unstoppable Simek kept on experimenting and came up with a delicately ethereal speckled Japanese quail egg pendant, coated in plastic for strength and lined with a 23k gold leaf yolk.
Her most recent piece from her “Wearables” collection is a sea cookie pin that lights up, radiating the purest blue colour of the deepest oceans. The LED incorporated in the pin illuminates the patterns and textures of the little creature and makes this little jewel the ideal accessory to wear on a special summer night.
Simek is also involved in various projects, such as multi-media art collective Baby Bird, and is the co-founder with Adam Keller of the Portland-based art, film and music space Rererato, created in a former Hare Krishna temple. You’d better be scared: who knows what kind of material the visionary Simek will use next.
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
http://www.boxxet.com/my/badgeBN.80.15.js?boxxetId=u23036
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
http://www.boxxet.com/my/badgeBN.160.30.js?boxxetId=u23036