Sixteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Jewelry has always served as a way for me to interpret and express the complexity of human relationships. I focus on not only searching relationships in between body and objects but also interactions in between objects and mind. I deliberately break boundaries of the traditional notion of jewelry and force audiences to rethink beyond its presence. This collection has emerged by exploring lanterns as a communicative form. The series of lantern rings are more intimate, in that the lanterns are meant to hang from hands that pray or meditate. The rings fit the fingers or hands of the wearer, letting the lanterns hang below. These pieces are not outright narratives, though they suggest a quietude that is, at its essence, personal. The lanterns utilize the recurring lotus shape, a flower with both ceremonial and decorative functions. These lantern rings are not meant to isolate specific meanings, but rather suggest a moment of thought where stillness, beauty, and illumination can peacefully coexist. The process of transforming from raw materials to wearable objects is rather meticulously intended results than intuitive. It demands me to have artistic integrity and dignity. This responsive process has been a vehicle to translate my artistic inner thought to external reality, sometimes shy, loud, and quiet. Each piece allows me to communicate myself with others, symbolize accumulated time and its residues, and start new memories and life long relationship in between.