Artists Introduce Creative, Sustainable Design

New York's Museum of Arts and Design is bringing back raw creativity with its latest and greatest edition of MAD About Jewelry.

The annual benefit show, which is on its 23rd year, celebrates contemporary jewelry making a splash, both in the fashion and fine art world.

This year, 50 artists from 20 countries have been selected to showcase their work in a vibrant pop-up in the city set to be attended by collectors, enthusiasts, and designers alike. And while it seems like every week there is a must-see jewelry expo in Manhattan, what makes this MAD show so different is the level of risk, in terms of techniques and materials, that the artists have taken with their pieces.

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Next to traditional gold, silver, platinum, and semi-precious stones, some designers have used pleated paper, eggshells, seashells, recycled kimonos, melted wine bottles, coins, bank notes, and even postage stamps to create their beautiful works. Some have also used 3D printing in order to simplify the process that goes into physically crafting the often-intricate pieces.

All of this, apart from being a push of bold creativity not regularly seen in the high-end jewelry circles, highlights artists' growing push for sustainability at every step of the design and manufacturing process.

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Bryna Pomp, director of MAD About Jewelry, believes it's the museum's best jewelry show yet. Ahead, she speaks to BAZAAR.com about this year's talented group of designers and the exciting trends she's seeing in jewelry this season.

What makes MAD About Jewelry 2023 the most exciting year yet?

There are 50 outstanding makers from 20 countries (including Brazil, Estonia, Kenya, Singapore, and Vietnam), which creates a great balance and diversity of work in both precious metals and in alternative materials. Thirty-five percent of those makers are young emerging artists.

Apart from traditional jewelry the show includes new classifications: customized jeweled sandals, clutch handbags, wall art with removable jewelry, and jeweled wall light fixtures.

Also, three very important honorees were honored at the Opening Night Gala Benefit this Tuesday, all with significant ties to jewelry: Alexis Bittar, Sam Broekema, and Linda Fargo.

The show and sale starts today, April 26, and ends Friday, April 29, at MAD. Money from the one-of-a-kind pieces sold at the expo goes toward the museum’s exhibitions and educational programs.

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What do you look for in the artists you select?

I have five essential criteria that I must see in the work of each jewelry artist I select: originality, excellence in design, meticulous craftsmanship, a mastery of the materials being utilized, and wearability.

Each of these 50 makers has absolutely excelled in creating a very focused, distinctive body of work that is completely identifiable as their signature work.

Why do you think MAD About Jewelry is such an interesting venue for contemporary jewelry designers?

The entire global community of contemporary jewelry artists faces the same challenge: there are simply just not many venues to present and sell their work.

With its singular position as the only museum in America with a permanent jewelry gallery devoted exclusively to modern and contemporary jewelry, along with its profound institutional commitment to this field, the Museum of Arts and Design is uniquely poised to have become a headquarters for its unrivaled annual selling exhibition opportunity to makers worldwide.

MAD About Jewelry has become the premiere opportunity in America for the public to see and purchase this breadth and level of contemporary jewelry, and to actually meet the makers of the work. All fifty makers are present at MAD for the week to engage with our visitors. Over the course of the past thirteen editions I have curated, makers from 47 different countries have participated.

For a jewelry maker, the accomplishment of an invitation to show one’s collection at MAD About Jewelry provides great visibility and exposure, and is often a real milestone in a maker’s career.

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What jewelry trends, evident in this year's lineup, are you seeing right now?

Usage of unusual materials

For many contemporary jewelry artists, creativity and individuality necessitate working with materials that have rarely been used to fabricate a piece of jewelry. It's all about developing a body of work that stands completely apart from others. While most jewelers begin their studies and careers working in metals, a mastery of this may often progress to an exploration and attachment to far less traditional material.

• Miki Asai: eggshells
• Jiska Hartog & Michiel Henneman: walnut shells
• Naoko Yoshizawa: handmade, hand-dyed, hand-pleated paper[

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Naoko Yoshizawa

Repurposed or recycled materials

Many contemporary jewelry artists have the extraordinary vision to look at everyday objects that surround us and to imagine them in a uniquely different context: as decorative adornment, i.e., jewelry. Additionally, many makers possess a true sense of societal obligation that manifests itself in a desire not to create new materials, but rather to sustainably recycle interesting, existing materials into their work.”

• Yumi Kato: recycled Japanese silk kimonos
• Emily Kidson: laminate used in kitchens
• Deirdre Maine: recycled French Burgundy wine bottles
• Ann Cox: recycled glass

Yumi Kato

Deirdre Maine

3D-printed nylon

This edition of MAD About Jewelry has the work of three makers working in 3D-printed nylon. Many makers use this technique, but I find much of the output quite prosaic. I consider all three of these artists to be among the best in the world in this medium, each in a very different and distinctive way. 3D-printed jewelry offers boldness without weight, and saturated, intense color that is a joy to behold.

• Eve Balashova
• Zoe Sherwood
• Anneli Tammik

Anneli Tammik

Eve Balashova

Humor/Trompe-l’oeil

Many of our clients who replenish their jewelry wardrobe every spring at MAD About Jewelry love the aspect of purchasing and wearing a piece that brings a smile to the face of an observer—either through the delight of sharing the enigmatic material of the piece, or by offering an explanation of the meaning and language of a piece that may not reveal itself at first glance.

• Laura Fortune: Americana images in enamel
• Yoo Jung Kim: blister packaged capsules and pills
• Joanna Manousis: digitally printed images of faceted stones

Laura Fortune

Joanna Manousis

Precious metals used very inventively

While gold and silver are the most commonly used precious metals worldwide in fabricating jewelry, their presence at MAD About Jewelry is always very uncommon. At this edition of MAJ, 18K gold is used in tandem with kinetic semiprecious stones, as "scribbles," and as lean, minimal, architectural pieces. Silver is used boldly in softened geometric forms and in dimensional sculptures for the body. There is also outstanding, inventive work in two more rare precious metals: titanium and niobium.

• Ela Cindoruk: architectural design; 18K gold
• Ute Decker: dimensional sculptures; silver; 18K gold
• Yael Sonia: kinetic stones: 18K gold
• Marina Sheetikoff: niobium

Ela Cindoruk

ALMIRPASTORE

Rosa Sanchez is the senior news editor at Harper's Bazaar, working on news as it relates to entertainment, fashion, and culture. Previously, she was a news editor at ABC News and, prior to that, a managing editor of celebrity news at American Media. She has also written features for Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, Forbes, and The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets. 

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