This is a graduation project for VCC's Jewellery Art and Design 2-year diploma course. The inspiration behind the project are the mythincal five elements. Each of these pieces correnspods to the four earthly elements and the fifth spiritual element. Students had to construct a display to showcase their jewellery, the display had to be consistent with the theme and be part of the project.

 

All pieces are sterling silver; the box locket has 24K gold leaf keum-bo on the lid. Each piece is hand-engraved with my own illustration, representing each element. 

“ The hero-deed to be wrought is not today what it was in the century of Galileo. Where then there was darkness, now there is light; but also, where light was, there now is darkness. The modern hero-deed must be that of questing to bring to light again the lost Atlantis of the co-ordinated soul.”

 

— Joseph Campbell

Artist Statement

 

I have always been a story teller, and I believe my jewellery can tell tales. Like many story-tellers I borrow as much as I invent, and thus a lush new world is created. This jewellery collection is both a futuristic vision and a reference to an ancient mythological lore. Each of the four pieces represents a basic element (fire, water, earth or air), while the centre piece signifies a higher ‘aether’ element, keeping the former four in equilibrium. Many ancient legends acknowledge the presence of such forces, which often play a significant role in the unfolding of a particular story. I see my jewellery pieces as potential segments of such a story, elements of an expansive fictional world.