Reflexive and Formalist Approaches in Contemporary Jewellery: Negotiating Autonomy Through Aesthetic and Conceptual Innovations

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Pioneers Emmy van Leersum and Gijs Bakker created works that questioned stereotypes related to the body, jewellery, ornamentation, and the boundaries across disciplines, such as fashion and jewellery. This work, primarily focused on industrial design and adhering to a minimalist reductionist approach, was situated alongside the short-lived B.O.E group formed by Marion Herbst and joined by Onno Boekhoudt, Françoise van den Bosch, Peter Berend Hogen Esch, and Karel Niehorster.

The B.O.E. group’s collective endeavours included exhibitions such as Revolt in Jewellery at the Electrum Gallery in London, which gained international attention and reinforced the group’s innovative vision. As Dormer and Turner further inform us, “the B.O.E. group succeeded in reacting against the dominant clinical approach. For a while the group, as well as other Dutch jewelers, looked towards Britain, where jewelry design was looser and freer…Well-designed work, with a restrained expressiveness and colour, has been a characteristic in recent years of other Dutch makers, such as Joke Brakman and Willem Honing.”​  [14]


Onno Boekhoudt. Ring, 1990, silver, 1.8 x 0.5 x 2.2 cm and Ring, 1990, silver, 1.8 x 0.5 x 2.1 cm. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation ©.


These developments are crucial to the artistic visual language, material research, and concepts of contemporary jewellery; most importantly, they articulate engagement with self-reflexivity, thereby serving as a foundation for subsequent conceptual evolutions. Nevertheless, as it will be demonstrated below, they intrinsically link to autonomy.   


Françoise van den Bosch. Necklace, 1970. Stainless steel, two parts Ø19.3 cm. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation ©.



At the Intersection of Autonomy and Functionality

Autonomy is a concept fundamentally ingrained in contemporary jewellery. Art historian Marjan Unger, in her doctoral dissertation Jewellery in Context, A Multidisciplinary Framework for the Study of Jewellery, 2019, particularly posits that contemporary jewellery is “a new tradition which can be viewed as an elitist niche within jewellery based on its emphasis on autonomy in both concept and execution.”  [15] This notion dates back to pioneer jewellery artists who worked throughout the modernist period.

Margaret De Patta, for instance, emphatically employed compositional features to preserve the principle of autonomy by creating pieces, such as brooches and pendants, that did not directly contact the body [16] as curator and historian Glenn Adamson further illustrates in Thinking Through Craft, 2007, "through the teachings of Moholy-Nagy, De Patta established a system of dynamically counterbalancing forms within her pieces, in which cantilevered, linear elements were weighted against more compact, denser forms…while also chosen to photograph her jewellery against a white background as the white cube of the gallery.”​ [17] The contextual utilisation of photography is crucial here, acting as a facilitative instrument to highlight and link these objects with visual arts; den Besten explicitly illustrates this about Dutch and British jewellery from the 1970s, which “are photographed in an abstract, clean way …as if floating in an endless space, aimed at underlining their objecthood, their uncompromising entity as an art object.” [18]

The notion of autonomy was central to major debates and critiques in postmodern discourse, especially in relation to conceptual art and minimalism. Ultimately, autonomy preserves historical relevance in the visual arts, as Jonathan Harris, 2006, informs us, "In theoretical accounts of modern art, particularly abstract painting and sculpture in the twentieth century, autonomy designates the separation or distance or freedom from society that certain artworks have been claimed, by critics such as Clive Bell and Clement Greenberg, to have achieved.” [19]

Numerous scholars have suggested that autonomy and functionality in jewellery are inherently contradictory. Recent narratives, which encompass emerging societal critiques and definitions about elitism and material culture, are particularly linked to traditional definitions regarding arts and crafts, stemming from Enlightenment aesthetic hierarchies.
The debates over the distinction between arts and crafts during the 1980s in particular are significant, for in such a historical context, a challenge to the characterisation of an art object, functional or not, had a deep impact.

A significant reconsideration during these years of high art and craft, and in relation to class, gender, and the colonial condition, had an everlasting effect. Feminists such as Judy Chicago and Rozsika Parker reframed traditional women's crafts into legitimate forms of cultural expression, while Howard Risatti's 1987 book, A Theory of Craft, proposed for craft's functional distinctiveness.
Critics influenced by Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin examined the commodification and authenticity in art, whereas Pierre Bourdieu related artistic value to cultural capital.


Marion Herbst: Bracelet, 1971. Chromium plated copper (shower hose). 9.5 x 9.5 cm. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation ©.


These shifts are profoundly related to the functionality-autonomy nexus of art jewellery. Marion Herbst, by then chairwoman of VES, the Society of Dutch Jewellers and Jewellery Designers, in the catalogue of Sieraad 1975, expressively addressed the issue, “From way back, the function of jewellery has been to decorate people. It has a tradition of craftsmanship connected with value and status (precious metals, gems). As a goldsmith, you are a victim of heredity. You try to escape by dismantling jewellery and giving it an autonomous artistic function in return.” [20]

Dutch jeweller Robert Smit incorporates references to sculpture, art, and architecture in his pieces, combining modernist principles with traditional jewellery concepts. Playful form manipulation and vibrant colours, reflecting his early drawing training and participation with the Zero group, distinguish his work.
Smit perceives jewellery's meaning as extending beyond its wear, pointing to its exhibition as an art form. He views drawing and jewellery making as inextricably linked; each discipline informs and enriches the other. Adamson's discussion of the status of craft illustrates this issue; through Jacques Derrida's notion of the supplement, or the discursive positioning of crafts as supplemental to the arts, Adamson describes how jewellery designers, since the 1940s, have distinguished their practice from associations with supplementary conceptions by aligning their work with Constructivism or Surrealism while emphasising abstraction, functionality, and conceptual depth. [21]
These strategies enabled jewellery to transcend supplementary related notions by demonstrating the connection between craftsmanship, avant-garde ideas, and cultural contexts, thereby undermining the boundary between art and adornment.
Robert Smit. Necklace: Cwrt from Maes-ifan, 2004. Gold, silver, lead, paint. 12.5 x 12.5 cm. Photo by Robert Smit. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Klimt02.net ©.      



Self-Reflexivity and Modern Art

Self-reflexivity and autonomy are fundamentally integral to modern art, with its ideas grounded in Kantian aesthetics and significant nineteenth-century discourse, as noted by art critic and historian Hal Foster, “From Théophile Gautier's program of l'art pour l’art and Édouard Manet's conception of painting as a project of perceptual self-reflexivity, the aesthetics of autonomy culminate in the poetics of Stephane Mallarme in the 1880s. Aestheticism conceiving the work of art as a purely self-sufficient and self-reflexive experience- identified by Walter Benjamin as a nineteenth century theology of art- generated, in early-twentieth-century formalist thought, similar conceptions that would later become the doxa of painterly self-reflexivity for formalist critics and historians.” [22]

Our discussion, however, focuses on how these advancements in the visual arts have impacted the discipline of jewellery and, in particular, contemporary jewellery. Starting with the recognition that modernism emerged in several forms-varieties of modernisms-and concentrating on the contributions of Cubists Picasso, Braque, Léger, and subsequently Mondrian, we may acknowledge the revolutionary transformation of pictorial space as a fundamental point. As is well known, one such alteration of Cubism is the attack of the illusionistic representation- specifically, the system of perspective, the liberation of the negative pictorial space, and the disruption of form, especially in the early stages. The organisation of the pictorial space and the spatial devices employed are what we call syntax. What reasonably follows is that the negative space that emerges also has a perceptual field that asserts signification. Cubists relied on reflexive strategies to signify negative space, treating it instead of passively as active. This liberation of the negative space again was signified with means other than illusionistic and geometrical, namely intuitional.

Modernist jewellery designers such as Art Smith, Betty Cooke, Georg Jensen, Vivianna Torun, and Alexander Calder adopted and extended modernist theory, combining it with design principles, abstraction, and open forms to create sculptural, wearable art. 

Betty Cooke. Ring: Untitled, 1985, 14K gold. 2.1 x 2.4 cm. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Klimt02.net©.


They highlighted voids and spatial relationships as integral design elements, echoing this concept. Another example of this visual strategy is Marjorie Schick's avant-garde jewellery, which we will analyse in more detail below. Schick often incorporated dowel rods and fibre, forming large-scale geometric structures that interacted with the wearer's body. Schick’s works emphasised the space around and within the piece. 

Tone Vigeland. Necklace: Untitled, 2000. Silver. Ø 34,5 cm,.Photo: Alexander Laurenzo, Die Neue Sammlung, The Design Museum, Image Credit: Courtesy of the Klimt02.net©.


This is one facet of the case however, self-reflexivity is a particular method not utilised by all modernist jewellers, including the previously named artists. Skinner's observation is particularly informative here: “Interestingly, while contemporary jewelry as a term includes modernist jewelry (and to a lesser extent, art jewelry from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries), I would argue that these types of jewelry are not the same thing, precisely because modernist jewelry is not necessarily self-reflexive.” Margaret de Patta (though also influenced by Constructivism), David Watkins, Tone Vigeland, and Paul Lobel, among others, utilised the concept of self-reflexivity in innovative and extraordinary works of jewellery.

Late Cubism gradually shifts away from reflective strategies and form disruption, culminating in Piet Mondrian's work and abstract art, in which pure autonomous form operates at a level devoid of signification, prioritising expressiveness and visual perception. Contemporary jewellery influenced by Mondrian’s pure abstraction elevated to a purist, minimalist aesthetic that prioritised balance and visual perception over ornamentation. Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Adolph Gottlieb's work, which conveyed abstraction, expressiveness, and visual experience, exemplified a strong part of Abstract Expressionism.

Art Informel, closely related to Abstract Expressionism, emerged in Europe during the 1950s and impacted contemporary jewellery, a trend that continues even in present times. Typified by abstract gestural tendencies, tachism, and the classical abstraction of Mondrian, it is eventually summed up as den Besten points out: “by opulence (with a focus on yellow gold and dynamic forms), hue (preferably through gemstones), brilliance (diamonds), and coarse finishing surfaces.” [23]

Akis Goumas. Piece: Untitled 3, 2020. Wood, silver oxidized. 4.5 x 2.5 x 9 cm. From series: Crossing Paths, Photo: Akis Goumas. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.

Akis Goumas, a Greek goldsmith and researcher, integrates aspects of Art Informel in one part of his work, drawing on memories, experiences, and mythology and developing a specific visual language through a materialistic aesthetic. By combining modern design with research on ancient goldsmithing techniques of the Aegean region, he revives these into a distinct traditional and yet contemporary style. Another typical illustration of this expressive work is Réka Fekete's jewellery, which is conveyed through a spontaneous, process-oriented approach with organic forms, irregularities, and the dynamic interaction of light and shadow. Nonetheless, ornament, which has historical relevance for jewellery, was heavily criticised during modernism. Now, the focus was on form and function, in addition to eliminating any unnecessary ornamentation. The artists wanted to emphasise the purity of the design while paying respect to the materials. Movements like Bauhaus and minimalism reflect this fact quite well. Ornamentation manifests in contemporary jewellery through creativity and self-expression. It often plays with materials and techniques to expand the definition of what aesthetics and functionality in jewellery mean.



Self-reflexivity in Contemporary Jewellery

Contemporary jewellery demonstrates self-reflexivity in various ways, including through historical typologies, materials, cultural references, and artistic practices. This idea was initiated as a reaction to and critique of the idea of preciousness, as Skinner explains, “The mechanism that led to the self-reflexive character of contemporary jewelry is the critique of preciousness, which emerged in the 1950s and ‘60s as a challenge to the prevalent notion that jewelry’s value emerged from, and was equivalent to, the preciousness of materials…Generally, most proposals favored artistic expression, novel engagements with the body or the social possibilities of contemporary jewelry as a democratic practice as the best way to evaluate the worth of this new kind of jewelry.”  [24]

Looking beyond historic events to recent artistic interventions and reflexive strategies, we observe remarkable jewellery idioms that incorporate novel aesthetics. German artist Christoph Straube remarkably exemplifies these tendencies in his geometric and distinctively illusionistic patterns.
Straube meticulously creates each piece with vibrant colours and clean, plain patterns achieved through enamelling.


Christoph Straube. Necklace: Halsschmuck, 2013. Silver, enamel. 18 x 16 x 1 cm. Schumuck Exhibition Catalogue 2014. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


The artist manually cuts the jewellery components from steel sheets, enamelling and finalising through several firings to achieve the desired finish.
Straube emphasises the history of jewellery and the artisanal process in his self-reflexive approach, as exemplified in Halsschmuck/Necklace, 2013, where the chain, a motif of mass production, becomes hybridised through an appreciation of illusionistic depth and craftsmanship.

Wearability, abstraction, and the sophisticated use of illusion challenge the distinctions among function, art, and ornamentation in creations that transform jewellery into an intellectual and artistic medium.
Through the synthesis of dynamic relationships between form, light, and depth, the artist establishes a multidimensional effect through enamel micro-painting. The utilisation of illusion in his works creates a compelling interaction between two-dimensional and three-dimensional perspectives. This manipulation of visual language forces the viewer to ponder what is solid and what is void, giving his jewellery a fascinating depth and encouraging a reception of presence, as described by Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht in his 'concept of presence’. According to Gumbrecht in his 2004 book Production of Presence: What Meaning Cannot Convey, aesthetic experiences deal with a sensual, immediate relation to the presence of objects, thereby shifting the emphasis from interpretation to embodied perception. Gumbrecht's 'concept of presence' suggests that visual perception can create an instantaneous sensory connection to the world. He argues that aesthetic experiences entail not only the interpretation of meaning but also an immediate, physical reaction to objects and images. [25] 


Kim Buck. Brooches: String Of Pearls With Gold Claps, 2003. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


Danish goldsmith, gallerist, and teacher, Kim Buck is celebrated for his conceptual and experimental approach that encompasses a redefinition of the visual language of jewellery. His unconventional work blends tradition, universal symbolism, and visual culture with industrial references.

Buck’s work explores the themes of mass production, value, and consumerism in a very imaginative and occasionally humorous way, pushing reflexivity to its limits, particularly in jewellery typologies. 
His String Of Pearls With Gold Claps, brooch, 2003, the Gold Heart Signa-Intima, brooch, 2005, and the Pumpous, ring, 2011, are examples of this approach.

Anna Norrgrann’s artistic practice, which centres on anodised aluminium, colour, texture, and form, is another notable example of self-reflexivity in jewellery. Her work embodies a meditative process of exquisite repoussé, materialised through large-scale abstract artwork and vibrant colour palettes that reflect the goldsmithing technique in a contemporary conceptual manner.


Anna Norrgrann. Necklace: Untitled, 2014. Aluminium. 8 x 0.1 x 19 cm. From series: ImPulse Palette series. Photo: Anna Norrgrann. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


Her pendant necklace, Untitled, from the ImPulse Palette series, 2014, as well as her pieces from The Flow within and the Flight from a Standard Size, 2015, exhibit a remarkable formalist aesthetic in the way that the total elements of style work together; this effect highlights the ways that the medium, through scale, technique, and colour, self-reflects its autonomy, invoking a unified relationship with the body as a canvas.

This category of contemporary jewellery, aligned with reflexivity, manifests distinct and extraordinary expressions in Veronica Fabien’s (HU) emblematic, large-scale chain pattern, in the iconic tube interpretation by the duo Yoko Takirai (JP) and Pietro Pollitteri (IT), as well as in Gemma Canal’s (ES) treatment of the frame; these works exemplify a play between contemporary aesthetics, concept, and the typologies of jewellery.

Yoko Takirai and Pietro Pelliteri. Bracelet: Mad, 2017. 925 silver. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.

Clodagh Molloy. Brooch: Dove, Behind the Bars, 2024. Copper, enamel, silver pins. 11 x 8 x 1 cm. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


Further beautiful works include Tengely Nóra’s (HU) appropriation of the chain into modern, puristic, wearable objects, Anne Achenbach’s (DE) tube idioms and a weaving pattern, and Patrícia Correia Domingues's (PT) fragmented reconstructions of landscapes through natural and artificial materials. Additionally, some extraordinary further mentions are Clodagh Molloy’s works of hydraulic press innovations, Susanne Hammer’s (AT) tube reworkings, and Anya Kivarkis’s (US) appropriation of Baroque sketches and modern images. 



Anne Achenbach. Bracelet: Back and Forth, 2016. Copper, tin-solder. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.



Notes on the Concept of Style

The term style etymologically derives from the Greek word stylos, associated with columnar forms, and the Latin word stilus, referring to the ancient writing instrument. The notion of style possesses various definitions, as articulated by art historian and critic James Elkins, “Term used for a coherence of qualities in periods or people. This is a provisional definition for one of the most difficult concepts in the lexicon of art, and one of the chief areas of debate in aesthetics and art history. Following the provisional definition of style as ‘a coherence of qualities in periods or people’, styles of periods may be distinguished from those of people. This dichotomy was formulated by Heinrich Wölfflin (1913), who called it the ‘double root of style’.”  [26]
Style often exists between tensions such as form vs content, individual vs general, constancy vs change, narrative in style, and internal vs external, and finally, there are issues related to periodization.
Moreover, there is a need for caution when it comes to generic style characterisations, as these pose a risk of homogenisation, as Professor in Aesthetics Andrea Pinotti proposes, “the worry that by granting general styles some sort of reality or existence, the path is then opened to metaphysical approaches such as the spirit of the age, the spirit of culture, the essence of the nation, or some other supra-individual force of a Hegelian flavour.” [27]

A useful starting point, however, could be Meyer Schapiro’s definition, who proposes that style is “…the constant form-and sometimes the constant elements, qualities, and expression-in the art of an individual or a group. The term is also applied to the whole activity of an individual or society, as in speaking of a ‘life-style’ or the ‘style of a civilization’ ”. [28] Today most theories of style acknowledge the difficulty of strictly separating form from content, as Erwin Panofsky was the first to argue that “the distinction of a purely visual root of style apart from everything connected to expression cannot be upheld.” [29]



Formalism, From Art History to Contemporary Jewellery

Formalistic approaches to style in the early 20th century, though mainly developed in the German-speaking countries, gradually expanded to the rest of Europe and the USA; Roger Fry and Clive Bell in England were the principal proponents, while Clement Greenberg was the key figure for its diffusion in the United States. The influence of formalism in the visual arts has been greatly determined by the literary ‘New Critics’ (e.g., I. A. Richards, C. P. Snow, and T. S. Eliot) and intellectuals in Prague and Moscow (e.g., Roman Jakobson, Boris Eichenbaum, and Viktor Shklovsky).[30] The term formalism was subsequently used to characterise “accounts of art of any period that appear to separate explanations of its nature, meaning, and value from an understanding of the socio-historical conditions of its production and interpretation”. [31]

Clement Greenberg's ‘Modernist Painting’, written in 1965, is a seminal essay in which the critic posits that there exists a logic behind the evolution of modernist art. He identified as its essence “the use of the characteristic methods of a discipline to criticise the discipline itself—not in order to subvert it, but to entrench it more firmly in its area of competence”. [32]
Greenberg rejected illusionistic techniques (depth, perspective) and instead proposed flatness, verticality, and colour as defining characteristics of the painting. He suggested that modernist painting could become autonomous, distinguishing itself from other art forms by focusing on its own unique qualities. [33]
Self-reflexivity in the Greenbergian sense can be traced back to Kantian aesthetics and the autonomy of art, particularly the concepts of ‘purposiveness without purpose’ and ‘disinterested aesthetic judgement’ from the Critique of Judgement, 1790, where Kant suggests that art can be appreciated for its own sake instead of serving a purpose outside itself. [34]
Scholarship on modernism is very broad in scope, including the critiques of Greenberg's reductionism and the discourse of the 1980s and 1990s. While there is considerable debate about the exact origins of postmodernism, we can say with some certainty that works by John Cage, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Allan Kaprow, along with installation art, conceptual art, and minimalism, exemplify its principles.

Rosalind Krauss was a key postmodernist advocate who used deconstructionist, feminist, and psychoanalytic methodologies, managed to establish more fluid conceptions, and proposed an extended definition of art that included sculpture and other artistic forms beyond painting.
These advancements are evident in the contemporary jewellery of the 1970s, which was influenced and shaped by the prevailing context. 

Helen Williams Drutt, an esteemed art historian, gallerist, and key contributor to the contemporary jewellery scene, is a pioneer in a variety of endeavours, including her remarkable collection of fine art jewellery, which significantly documents these advancements.


Peter Chang. Bracelet: Untitled, 1995. Plastic. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Klimt02.net©.


The collection, which initiated in 1964 to document the groundbreaking works of American artists, expanded in the 1970s to include an international dimension with works from the Netherlands, England, Germany, Spain, and Japan. Helen Drutt bequeathed her collection of 800 historical pieces to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), followed by an exhibition and publication titled Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection, which recorded four decades of avant-garde jewellery from 1963 to 2006. Cindy Strauss, curator of modern and contemporary decorative arts and design at the MFAH, selected 275 pieces from Mrs. Drutt’s collection, offering a global perspective on the evolution of artist-made jewellery. This documentation honours the craft's origins while establishing a basis for 20th-century interdisciplinary artistic discourse. Of special notice is the catalogue entry ‘Minimalist and Conceptual Tendencies in the Helen Drutt Collection’, where Cindi Strauss demonstrates how minimalism and conceptual art offer new ways to think about a number of jewellers collected by Drutt. [35]

The 1970s rejection of the modernist principle that ‘form follows function’ is exemplified by Giampaolo Babetto’s work “who made jewelry closely aligned with Donald Judd’s sculpture and other American minimalists: ‘Like Judd’s Specific Objects, these three-dimensional works are neither painting nor sculpture (nor jewelry) but rather self-referential works that exemplify seriality’.” [36] Other notable artworks from the collection that illustrate this autonomy and reflexivity include Jamie Bennett’s, Pattern Fragment III, brooch, 1978 [37]; Ramón Puig Cuyàs’s, L’ Ambracada, brooch, 1989 [38]; and Peter Chang’s Bracelet of 1991 [39].

Today's art theorists who engage in discussions about the writings of Clement Greenberg, Michael Fried, and Rosalind Krauss often explore more fluid interpretations of form in contemporary art. They critique and adapt modernist principles to align with postmodern and contemporary paradigms. Formalism, previously avoided in exhibitions due to its connection with Greenbergian reductionism, has been reinstated and integrated with contemporary methodologies that examine form alongside  content, as noted by Anne Ellegood, “The past fifty years of avant-garde practice has taught us that form is a priori structural in the visual arts and that any type of formalist analysis must reach beyond morphology to grapple with form’s essential ties to content.” [40]

Ramón Puig Cuyàs. Brooch: Nº 1599, 2015. Níkel, silver, enamel on steel, plastic. 5.5 x 10 x 2 cm. From series: Subtle Architectures, Image Credit: Courtesy of the Klimt02.net©.



Conceptual and Fluid Expansion

The methodology of style is particularly useful for analysing contemporary jewellery, especially elements that manifest as reworkings, appropriations, or reflective strategies. Contemporary jewellery styles that tend to arise from formalism in recent decades are experimental and autonomous. They are typically the result of urban-centric negotiations with traditional modernism, emphasising an interplay between linearity and abstraction that exhibits multiplicity and fluidity in form. They frequently challenge traditional aesthetics by exploring innovative engagement with materials. This method honours form as a distinct language by stimulating visual and tactile interactions. 

In this regard, form is expressed through conceptual ways, questioning, and evolving principles and traditions already established by artists such as Hermann Jünger, Reinhold Reiling, Mario Pinton, Art Smith, Margaret De Patta, and Ed Wiener, among others. These artists revolutionised jewellery design by attributing equal significance to form and function. Their works transcended mere adornment, positioning jewellery as a distinct art form capable of conveying aesthetic autonomy and artistic significance. 

Danni Schwaag. Brooch: Blue Drop, 2013. Copper, enamel, acrylic paint, reconstructed stone, silver, steel. Photo: Danni Schwaag, Galerie Door, Netherlands. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


The fusion of formal rigour and creative innovation raised jewellery to the status of an independent artistic endeavour. In recent decades, contemporary jewellery has incorporated elements of formalist modernism, presenting them through unique interpretations that integrate styles and techniques and unite form with concept.

A case in point is the work of the Italian goldsmith Stefano Marchetti, who challenges the boundaries of conventional jewellery craftsmanship with his remarkable micro mosaic in metal technique and chemical corrosion methods, influenced by Post-Impressionism.
The artist, with his scientific investigation of light, colour, and depth-a process he designates as ‘surface in depth’-advances abstraction and three-dimensionality through innovative and modern design.

Stefano Marchetti. Brooch: Untitled, 2010. Gold, copper. 7.8 x 7.7 x 1.6 cm. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Galerie Marzee ©.


Marchetti preserves the classical geometric and sculptural legacy of the Triennale di Milano while integrating the alchemical creativity of the Padova school and his mentorship under Francesco Pavan-particularly the ‘minimal and mathematical approach’ [41], resulting in a visual vocabulary that is both familiar yet distinctly personal and contemporary.  

Current interpretations of formalist approaches are visible in outstanding artists' works, though it is occasionally reasonable for an oeuvre to incorporate aesthetic variations. Among them are the works by Gigi Mariani (IT), Karen Vanmol (DE), Yiota Vogli (EL), Kat Cole (US), Danni Schwaag (DE), Tore Svensson, (SE) Miriam Arentz (DE), Antje Stolz (DE), Hannah Oatman (US), Nicole Beck (DE), Lina Peterson (UK), and Karin Johansson (SE), among other extraordinary objects from the international jewellery scene.

Miriam Arentz's exceptional guilloche remarkably exemplifies this contemporary aesthetic. Radiance, brooch, 2024, in particular, exhibits a harmonious interplay of volume and shape, emphasised by the incredible contour produced by the hydraulic press. 
The linearity and delicacy of guilloche in a conceptual coupling of textures, colours, and contrasts reinforce a modern aesthetic. The choice of colour palette is uniquely expressive while also being puristic-reminiscent of a fluid style. This logic of conceptual synthesis is also apparent in the works of other respected artists, as we shall observe below.

Miriam Arentz. Brooch: Radiance, 2024. From series: Frozen Glow. Baltic Amber, oxidized silver, fine silver, enamel, guilloche. 5.5 x 7 x 1 cm. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.



Contemporary Jewellery in Multicultural Dialogues

The rise of globalisation, with its rapid circulation of goods, materials, and services, has also resulted in a concurrent cultural exchange. In the domain of contemporary jewellery, one can witness the intense evolution of hybrid and pluralistic artistic practices and styles in response to a rich multicultural environment. Such interaction is part of the research in Mieke Bal's book, Travelling Concepts in the Humanities, 2002, in which she proposes a rethinking of key terms and concepts in the humanities.
The overall thesis of Bal is that terms such as style, narrative, and identity are not unchangeable and not universally defined.
Instead, they are dynamic and adaptive, spanning disciplines, contexts, and frameworks. Bal advocates using these travelling concepts as instruments for multidisciplinary and cross-cultural study, breaking down academic silos, and stimulating innovative thinking.

This dynamism finds expression in Itto Mishima’s Brooch/Pendant, Wallpaper Yellow, 2024, which exemplifies his mastery in blending minimalist, Japanese, and contemporary aesthetics through intricate craftsmanship. The pendant exhibits a modern style with a tactile, layered texture reminiscent of wallpaper patterns, highlighting his ability to transform everyday inspirations into wearable art.
Mishima’s work technically integrates minimalism and modern design with Japanese aesthetics and the concept of wabi-sabi, transcending postmodernist fragmentation into a very personal aesthetic that appreciates imperfection, fluidity, optical coherence, and conceptual depth.

Recent formalist theories analyse style as a structure that transcends individualism and Hegelian grand narratives about predominance. Professor of Philosophy, Art, and Design Kendall Walton, for example, through his pragmatist perspective, argues that  “styles of art are to be understood in terms of the notion of styles of action. Specifically, attributing a style to a work involves, somehow, the idea of the manner in which it was made, the act of creating it.” [42] 

Can we regard actions as foundational ways of stylistic interpretation? Kaori Juzu represents such a case through her artistic practice and gestural work of enamellism. The term gestural was originally coined to denote the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hofmann, and others.


Itto Mishima. Brooch/Pendant: Wallpaper Yellow, 2024. Silver 950, stainless steel, nylon cord, ceramic coating. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


It derives from expressionism and automatism, particularly the works of Joan Miró, referring to the marks, strokes, or actions that emphasise the physical movement of the artist and convey energy, emotion, or spontaneity, as Pinotti further informs us, “The reference to modalities of using tools is emphasized by Arthur Danto, who goes back to the etymological root of style in ‘stilus’, and remarks that a peculiar feature of this writing stick and its derivates (paintbrush, pastel, etc.) is that it is not only an instrument of representation of something but also represents itself in representing, leaves traces of itself, so that a trained eye can recognize, beside what is represented, also how, hence  ‘its interesting property of depositing something of its own character on the surfaces it scores.”​ [43]

One can interpret Juzu's aesthetic as a dialogue between the structural precision of an action and organic spontaneity. Although she utilises formalist concepts in the careful arrangement of forms, colours, and spatial relationships, her approach surpasses a strictly formalist framework. Her work combines a complex aspect of reflexivity in her choices of materials and layered structural compositions that coherently play with symmetry, proportion, and harmony. She combines modernist principles with the Japanese aesthetics of Shibui in her 55°14’48.3”N 14°50’20.6”E 21.03.2022 05:58 brooch, 2022, which expresses simplicity with complexity and captures an understated elegance. Her focus on process and material transformation-acknowledging the unpredictability of kiln reactions and the distinctiveness of each piece-introduces a more experimental and expressive dimension. This practice emphasises a mix between meticulous craftsmanship and impulsiveness, challenging rigid formalism by encouraging emotional and poetic interpretation.

Kaori Juzu. Brooch: 55°14’48.3”N 14°50’20.6”E 21.03.2022 05:58, 2022. Enamel, steel, copper, 18kt gold, silver. 9.5 x 8 x 2.3 cm. From series: 55°14’48.3”N 14°50’20.6”E. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


Contemporary art theories that extend postmodernist discourse often concentrate on the appearance of forms as an evolutionary process. One could perceive this multicultural approach as a stimulus for the creation of innovative unified forms. In his article ‘Style as a Gestalt Problem’, 1981, Rudolf Arnheim, for example, argues that artistic style arises from the holistic interplay of perceptual forces, moving beyond motifs and decorative details; he suggests that human perception may be aware of unified forms instead of separate entities. Drawing on Gestalt psychology, Arnheim looks at style with respect to how the artists organise the visual elements to produce unified, dynamic compositions. Thus, the argument suggests that style emerges organically as a solution to the problem of achieving balance, coherence, and expressiveness in art. [44]

Xinia Guan. Brooch: Flatland IV, 2022. Oxidized sterling silver, stainless steel (pin). 8 x 6.7 x 1.1 cm, From series: Flatland, Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


The Flatland IV brooch by Xinia Guan (CN), 2022, exhibits this unification through complex hand-cut geometric designs, which explore the relationship between precision, organic forms, and illusionism expressed through traditional craftsmanship and modern aesthetics.


Sungho Cho. Brooch: Combination by Color Weakness, 2020. Recycled lego bricks, sterling silver. 1.5 × 9.5 × 7 cm. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.


Additionally, Sungho Cho (KR) transforms unconventional materials such as workshop dust and reclaimed plastics into innovative, artistic creations that unite abstract, figurative, and fine art elements to inspire personal interpretations, as with his Combination by Color Weakness, brooch, 2020.
This is also the case with Mariko Sumioka’s (JP) work, that combines architectural references and Zen-inspired minimalism with contemporary design.


Mariko Sumioka. Brooch: A view of roof and roof, 2024. Oxidized silver, 18k gold, stainless steel pin. 4.2 x 7.3 x 1.1 cm. Photo by: Ryo Yamashita. Image Credit: Courtesy of the Artist ©.



Epilogue

Contemporary jewellery has positioned itself as a transitional, self-reflective practice at the intersection of tradition and innovation. From its origins, it has transcended boundaries to interact with broader conceptual frameworks that highlight autonomy, materiality, and multiculturalism. It has evolved to represent a dynamic interaction of continuity, negotiating the legacies of modernism while adapting to the globalised multicultural present.
Contemporary jewellery employs self-reflexive strategies that go beyond mere critique of medium specificity discourses. It positions itself as an intellectual and artistic practice. This self-awareness fosters a conversation beyond historical precedents, into wider aesthetic, sociocultural, and philosophical concerns. Through the critique of preciousness, material experimentation, or the deployment of conceptual aesthetics, today’s jewellers nudge the formalist legacy into an interdisciplinary sphere; one that draws on concept, fluid interactions with modernist traditions, and global pluralistic artistic practices. Contemporary jewellery artists continue to blur the boundaries between autonomy and functionality, tackling issues of artistic value and clearly demonstrating how autonomy can foster innovation across the divide between ornamentation and creative exploration. Simultaneously, art jewellery maintains a connection to the human body through its autonomy; it is not detached from lived experience.
Contemporary jewellery idioms establish their significance through materiality, aesthetics, and intellectual inquiry. Navigating the tenuous boundaries between art, craft, and adornment, it opens new modes of consideration for the relationships existing between objects, makers, and wearers. Contemporary jewellery, situated at the intersection of cultural discourse, artistic innovation, and human experience, reflects the world as well as  actively shapes our understanding of it. It is of enduring relevance because it adapts, provokes, and inspires; it holds up a mirror to our complexities and points toward new creative horisons.



Notes: 

About the author

Sotiria Vasileiou is a visual artist and jewellery maker with an academic background in art history. She holds a BA and MA in Art History from the Open University UK. Her skill set includes traditional and modern artistic practices, with a particular area of research on 19th-century fashion and crafts and, more recently, contemporary art and crafts. She has a Certificate from the Technical School of Goldsmiths in Athens and has apprenticed next to several prominent Greek goldsmiths. Her practice entails an exploration of materials, which she transforms and synthesises through artisanal work and contemporary design. She employs a multifaceted method that includes art history, fashion, material culture, and jewellery history to explore topics of identity, experience, value, and aesthetics. She has also contributed to the local art scene in her hometown of Kalamata by creating exhibition catalogues.

Mail: info@sotiriavasileiou.com
Website: https://info@sotiriavasileiou.com/
Instagram: @sotiria_vasileiou_jewellery