Nature Deconstructed

From Vienna to Ravenna

The concepts for all of my collections develop through research and careful attention to an amalgam of images, colors, patterns, theory, and storytelling.  It can take years for these initial concepts to actually take shape as jewels.

The ideas behind Nature Deconstructed come from multiple visits over the years to Vienna, the basilicas of Ravenna, the Neue Galerie in New York City, and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris.

 As a designer I repeatedly return to nature as an infinite source of inspiration and guidance.  This time it was to look at the symmetry and asymmetry of nature’s patterns – the blending colors in a field of flowers, the contours of a river gently embracing the shoreline.

A major source of inspiration for this collection are the decorative patterns frequently employed by Byzantine mosaicists working in the basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna in the 6th century as well as those created by artists and designers of the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop) in the early 1900’s — both depicting natural motifs. 

 The works of Gustav Klimt were also central to my research.  Inspired by the mosaics of Ravenna, Klimt began using gold leaf and exotic patterns in some of his most celebrated paintings.  Conversely, art scholars believe that his landscapes were based on abstractions of pattern and color stemming from his time spent meditating on the natural world.

Therefore, Nature Deconstructed  is a stylized view of natural details in gold and gems inspired by concepts spanning a period of 1000 years in art and design from Ravenna to Vienna.

The titles of the pieces in this collection include river, whirlpool, islandflower field, and Theo imagined in an array of precious gemstones: blue, green and violet sapphires with vibrant touches of red spinel and emerald.