JEWELRY
With Photography by myself, LR Photography SA, and Eunice Driver Photography
Jewelry was my introduction into the world of design.
It was with two needles, thread, and hanks of tiny glass beads that I found my voice and unique perspective as a designer. These pieces stretch back to my high school years, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and well into my college years. I first learned jewelry making skills as a child, and began to create myself in high school, inspired by the ornate historic pieces I would see in museums or out antiquing with my mother. Later, I used these skills to develop a jewellery collection for Helon Melon, a brand in Cape Town with whom I had my first internship.
Project #1: Beadwork
Beadwork has been a powerful medium for me to find my voice as an artist and develop my own original designs. I've always been fascinated by beaded jewelry, as nearly every culture across the globe has practiced some form of adornment with beads—whether glass, clay, shell, or other natural materials. My pieces draw inspiration from the diverse places I’ve visited and called home over the years: the humid streets of Havana, the vast beauty of Navajo Nation, the cool shores of Maine, the lush piedmont of North Carolina, and the dense forests of Upstate New York where I came of age.
Each piece showcased here was ideated, designed, and handcrafted by me. I work with a variety of materials, including Czech glass beads, leather, gemstones, porcupine quills, bone beads, and more.
Project #2: Helon Melon
After my sophomore year at University, I had my first dive into the world of fashion through my time as an intern at Helon Melon. The brand, based in Cape Town, South Africa, ethically constructs all of its clothing in a small local workshop. There, I learned everything from patternmaking and cutting to pressing graphics or metal foil onto clothing and adding various neon highlights, part of their trademark. When I came on, the eponymous owner Helen Gibbs, an architect by trade, was interested in expanding from the beautiful, chemical-free clothing she designed into a jewellery line.
Using several boxes of antique beads that Helen had acquired while traveling throughout Africa, I developed a collection of jewellery which both honored the heritage of their brand and built upon its love of colour, and all things bright and joyful. Below, you will see select pieces worn by models of Helon Melon on the runway of South Africa Fashion Week S/S 22.
