Yu-Chun Chen

Yu-Chun Chen’s necklace balances tension and tenderness through a material conversation between wood, iron, coral, and silver. The piece reads like a quiet narrative—circular segments of wood resemble cut tree rings, evoking the slow passage of time and memory embedded in organic form. Interspersed are sheets of darkened iron, meticulously pierced with vegetal patterns. These floral and foliate motifs offer glimpses of breath and openness, allowing the piece to oscillate between density and lightness.

Clusters of soft pink coral rest in gentle groupings atop the wood. The contrast between the charred and the living, the industrial and the ornate, brings the work into a meditative space. Chen’s materials and forms reflect traditions of handcraft and ritual, but their abstraction resists nostalgia. Instead, this necklace feels like an offering—both wearable and contemplative, it invites us to hold questions of heritage, transformation, and repair.