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Linda van de Cappelle (Ezerman)
Linda van de Cappelle’s neckpiece is made from felt, concrete with shells, silicone, ink, and glass beads. The materials create a textured surface that resembles natural formations such as coral or lichen. The dark muted tones and clustered shapes give the piece an organic and weathered appearance, suggesting something that has been shaped by time…
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Seulgi Kwon
Jewelry is usually static, but this piece feels alive. Its translucent sacs swell like suspended droplets, while vivid magenta and violet tendrils twist and curl as if responding to an unseen force. There is tension in its form, a delicate balance between movement and stillness, softness and structure, fragility and resilience. Seulgi Kwon’s “Midnight Sun”…
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Yevgeniya Kaganovich
Yevgeniya Kaganovich’s Pearl Necklace Series examines how jewelry functions as a cultural signifier. Pearls have long been associated with prestige, status, and power, but they also carry connotations of purity, innocence, corruption, and seduction. This series explores these contradictions by transforming small freshwater pearls into the illusion of a large, perfect pearl necklace. Kaganovich challenges…
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Catherine Grisez
Exposed Escapees by Catherine Grisez are wearable fragments of a larger sculptural work, Exposed, which blurs the line between jewelry and object. Made from copper, vitreous enamel, and sterling silver, these brooches have an organic, almost skin-like quality. Their smooth, undulating surfaces, edged with soft pink, evoke something bodily sensorial, fragile, and exposed. Part of the Skin Within series, these…
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Ela Bauer
Ela Bauer’s necklace, Horn 1 (2016), creates a visual contrast between jewelry and sculpture. This bold, looping form wraps around the neck, ending in two hollow, organic shapes. One is soft and flesh-toned, the other dark and glossy. This contrast creates a tension between light and shadow, body and object, natural and synthetic. Known for her experimental approach to materials, Ela Bauer moves beyond metal, working with resin and silicone, creating unconventional…
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Jill Baker Gower
Dermalgem Brooch #3 (2015) by Jill Baker Gower is an exploration of femininity, personal memory, and material contrast. Made from silicone rubber, sterling silver, garnets, and pearls, the brooch mimics organic, skin-like textures while incorporating traditional jewelry elements that evoke luxury and adornment. The irregular, fleshy form that is punctuated by embedded pearls suggests an interplay between softness and structure. The brooch’s surface, resembling…
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Nicole Polentas
This piece by Nicole Polentas uses mixed materials to interrogate traditional ideas of jewelry. The central mass of tangled elements contrasts with simple clasp, twisted chain, and fragmented pink and white elements, creating a tension between order and disorder. The combination of disparate materials suggests the accumulation of memories or histories, each element contributing to a layered narrative. These mismatched components feel…
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Carolin Denter
This piece by Carolin Denter is an example of how contemporary jewelry uses traditional ideas of adornment to create deep reflections on memory, materiality, and storytelling. This necklace, Exploding Grandma III, is composed of a dense, tangled cluster of pearls and at its center are mismatched components like chains, antique clasps, and fragments of metal and glass. The work speaks to themes of accumulation, disruption,…
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Iris Bodemer
Iris Bodemer, a distinguished contemporary jewelry artist, is celebrated for her pioneering use of unconventional materials and her sculptural approach to adornment. Her creations challenge traditional boundaries, merging the areas of fine art and wearable objects. A striking example of Bodemer’s artistic vision is The Ingredients Neckpiece (2008). This piece showcases her ability to integrate natural textures…
More than decoration. Contemporary art jewelry as desire, discourse, and discovery.
Eating Diamonds 