Anissa Kermiche draws on the literary and cultural links between flowers and female sexuality in new fine jewellery collection, ‘Deflowered’. Kermiche was inspired by artists including Georgia O’Keefe, Robert Mapplethorpe and Edward Weston and the sexual undertones of flowers they portrayed in their work, drawing these same curving forms in sculpted gold and pearls.
‘Through the use of curves and folds, we strove to translate the same sensitivity we would give to the female nude into a sensual floral form,’ the jewellery designer explains. ‘The idea was to advocate for women's carnal desire but to do so delicately through the use of abstract yet provocative shapes. The sexual nature to the pieces was then softened through elegantly carved details and stone embellishment.’
The resulting pieces curve round necks and ears, casting the sensual silhouettes of flowers onto delicate, gleaming branches. ‘In order to transcend the classic femininity, we chose to play with the structures and mechanisms of the pieces and how they could be manipulated on the ear,’ Kermiche adds.
‘[In] the “Budding Romance” earring, for example, the flower stem goes in through the lobe and out the other side and can be turned and twisted in lots of directions. This flexibility of movement empowers the piece. We wanted to evoke a sense of wildness and liberty. The flowers move, nothing is stagnant. They are unashamedly brazen and one piece that really aligns with this idea is our “No Shrinking Violet” earring.’
Kermiche was careful to navigate a path between the explicit and the understated, opting to celebrate female desire without being crude.
‘We wanted jewellery that aligned with the female form but wasn't too vulgar, so that it would still be appealing to the eye. The goal was always to communicate our theme but achieve a subtlety in the final product – hopefully we managed to achieve this.’
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