Patcharavipa Bodiratnangkura brings a cool sensibility to traditional jewellery design in her eponymous brand, with jewellery that encompasses unexpected design ticks and sensual silhouettes.
New collection ‘Lignes d’Été’ nods to the cultural references of previous collections with fluid loops of 18ct Siam gold and pearls, teased into undulating forms. Sitting alongside these naturalistic jewellery pieces are adornments that acknowledge a wealth of other references, from allegorical cubist outlines to organic African shapes.
‘“Lignes d’Été”’ (or lines of summer) really started at the beginning of 2021, where my partner in life and business started to reflect on his collectible African arts,’ Bodiratnangkura explains. ‘I would wake up to them: the African art, the masks, the statues. It surrounds us. He’s half Algerian, so he has long been wanting to do something which goes back to his roots. These masks and statues are like passports to access different cities or states. So we started drawing and making samples from paper with the miniature masks as rings and earrings.’
The resulting pieces curve lifelike forms around bracelets; hair jewellery draws an enigmatic figure in tactile yellow gold. ‘They all look so different from afar, you could only recognise the silhouettes, the details of the eyes, nose and mouth. It started to create a rhythm. Then I went back to look at my family’s tribal art collection, like the ancient ceramics – my grandpa loved growing his collection from places including the Galapagos, Bhutan and Egypt. I especially liked a beaded ceramic necklace, so I started sketching another group of beaded-like rings, earrings and shapes of bells from different tribes.’
Bodiratnangkura worked with a wax carver to bring her vision to life, with roughly drawn textures nodding both to the African art, which inspired the jewellery, and the tactility which defines the works of Jean Dubuffet, Fernand Léger and Henri Laurens. ‘It’s like creating the future from the past by looking into two periods of time,’ she adds.
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