Lital Mendel
Jeweller
Published: 24.10.2019
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Contemporary jewelry is undermining and broadening the definition of traditional jewelry. Today jewelry is much more than just mere decorations. Jewelry is a platform in which the designer and the wearer can make a statement.Jewelry is supposed to be exciting; it can combine of different materials, consist of many colors and can have outrageous shapes. Jewelry is and should be fun.
For me, jewelry is the embodiment of moments and memories. Jewelry have deep and personal meaning and there is a sentimental story behind the jewelry. They often symbolize an event, given as an intimate gift or being passed on by inheritance. The constant touch of the jewelry on the body serves as a reminder of those memories and feelings.
Jewelry should make a statement, provoke thought and arouse emotion.
Statement
I believe that jewellery has a deep and personal meaning. It symbolizes small and intimate moments in the wearer's life, it is often given as a gift or being passed on in the family.For that reason jewellery should have something more than just aesthetic value, it should make a statement, provoke thought and arouse emotion.
Out of Nothing
The popular perception of jewelry is that it needs to be made of materials like precious metals, diamonds, and gems. It should sparkle and be beautiful.
What happens when I play with this perception: If I change the materiality? The classic way of setting? What if I change the material being set? Will it still be quickly recognized as jewelry?
To examine these questions, I used familiar structures and shapes from the world of fine jewelry, such as chatons and rings with multi-stone settings, and instead of setting stones in those structures, I set the structures themselves in a chunk of epoxy. The resulting objects shimmer with a familiar blueish hue which simulates a glinting gem with the purpose of easing the brain into accepting the objects as fine jewelry.
I also further examined the result of replacing traditional setting techniques by setting gems in epoxy, making them appear to be floating in space while still maintaining the familiar appearance.
These new settings provide a new point of view about the relationship between the stone and the setting, between the stone and the body and between the stone and tradition.
What happens when I play with this perception: If I change the materiality? The classic way of setting? What if I change the material being set? Will it still be quickly recognized as jewelry?
To examine these questions, I used familiar structures and shapes from the world of fine jewelry, such as chatons and rings with multi-stone settings, and instead of setting stones in those structures, I set the structures themselves in a chunk of epoxy. The resulting objects shimmer with a familiar blueish hue which simulates a glinting gem with the purpose of easing the brain into accepting the objects as fine jewelry.
I also further examined the result of replacing traditional setting techniques by setting gems in epoxy, making them appear to be floating in space while still maintaining the familiar appearance.
These new settings provide a new point of view about the relationship between the stone and the setting, between the stone and the body and between the stone and tradition.
Ephemeral
e·phem·er·al, adjective: Lasting for a very short time.
The shape of the jewelry seems at first to be a whole, coherent construct. A closer look reveals the fragile delicacy of the thread wrapping the air. One careless moment, a single wrong movement, can crumple the jewelry and create crevices.
The tendency is to offhandedly reject whatever is deemed imperfect, transient or lacking, but the new object is no less whole than the original one. It allows new points of view and different relationships between the inner and outer spaces of the object.
The moment an object is declared whole or complete is chosen randomly. Nothing is perfect; everything is in a constant state of creation and deconstruction. That means that no single moment is more or less beautiful and meaningful than any other, which makes both the original object and the crumpled one equally "correct" at the present moment they are looked at.
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