Artists experiment with unique materials like clay, glass, discarded watch parts, mixed media, metals, beads and almost anything to create conceptual jewellery. By Ankita Jain
Though gold continues to remain a clear occasion favourite, jewellery trends in the country are undergoing a Bohemian fusion of the folk and the industrial. So lac bangles of Gujarat and Rajasthan, the silver filigree of Orissa, the Pachchikam trinkets of Gujarat, Dokra pieces of Orissa, the Bidri and Channapatna jewellery from Karnataka are getting a contemporary makeover with wood, beads, stones, glass and metal. A new breed of accessory designers is redesigning the lookbook of the modern Indian with a potpourri approach.
like Aditi Chakraborthy, whose tool box is really an assorted range of perfume bottle and jewel box caps, tooth picks, nibs, refills, knives and wood-carving tools. She uses them to mould clay sourced from Bengaluru and turn it into elaborately-worked neckpieces, earrings and finger rings.
“The designs are in my head. I like painting though I do not necessarily draw or stencil a design. I prefer to work straight away on clay.” Once a piece takes shape, it is left out to dry and then treated in a kiln at about 900 degree Celsius. After this, Aditi embellishes each piece further with a few brushtrokes and assimilates it with folksy elements. “Initially I would go to the potters to fire my clay pieces but then I bought an electric kiln,” Aditi recounts. Elephants, ants, lotuses, fish, geometric shapes and clouds are the common motifs found in her work. “I draw inspiration from random street art to a Mughal panel,” she gushes.
From rugged and tough statements to delicate and stringy wear-ons, there is something for everyone in the unusual collection of Abhishek Basak, composed of discarded watch parts. “It started as a hobby about five years back. My love for handicrafts landed me in jewellery designing. In the initial stages, I kept training myself by watching online videos and reading various training guides.”
His work is a fusion of the past, present and future. “The inspiration ranges from Victorian, baroque and industrial to organic, occidental and oriental. It’s a fusion of inspiration, passion and skill. Of watch parts, dead insects, precious metal and porcelain. But most of all, it is a fusion of stories — forgotten stories that come with the watches inspire me to add a little bit of myself to become a story of someone else. More than fusion, I believe that my work is like Metamorphosis,” he explains.
Glass artist Ikroop Dhillon has interspersed science and craftsmanship to create art that is intricate and quirky. She uses traditional glass working techniques like lampworking and layered fusing. “The experiments started when I was much younger but it was only a few years ago when I realised that I could channelise my love for designs to create art pieces. I started off as an artist and evolved into a jewellery designer. I continue to do glass installations and framed art work alongside,” she says.
A vacation to Europe exposed her to the complexities of glass art. “I was really attracted to the idea of melting and shaping glass as an art form and landed up at Atul Bakshi’s Studio. This is where I started experimenting with different styles of glass like stained and blown but it was the fusion technique which kept me hooked. The process involves melting the glass in a kiln to over 1000 degrees.” Conflating technique, material and colour, her jewellery line draws inspiration from European art.
“In one of my collections, I have used a special kind of iridescent glass that took a lot of trial and error because heating the glass beyond a particular temperature would burn off the iridescence completely,” she explains. The earrings are a contrast to the neckpieces. Small, delicate glass jhumkas are fused with glass pearls and semi-precious stones.
Artist Puja Bhargava is fascinated the silver-beating technique called Bidri (silver wires are embedded into the most intricate design flows) “There’s tarkashi, phooljhari, sheet work and Mehtabi…all of which take a lot of time and effort,” she says. She marries silver with brass, glass and antique coins. She employs enamelling (meenakari) and uses gold plating too to break the monotony of an all-silver look,” she adds.
Her collection comprises uniquely crafted necklaces, pendants, earrings, cuffs and rings which, though contemporary, seem ageless. The striking contrast of colours — the glossy silver inlay being set off dramatically against matt black — makes for visually stunning pieces. The result is an overall aesthetic that is delicate yet formidable, understated yet opulent. All these exclusive pieces are curated by Pooja Roy Yadav, founder at NIMAI.
Beads of cerulean blue, fuzzy pink, dusky gold, iridescent mauve, soothing green and a multitude of other gorgeous hues lend a splash of colour to city-based designer Kirti Agarwal, who retails under the label Opa. Though derived from a Greek word, Opa’s idea is to give local art an international styling. Her hand-made collection is inspired by the textile heritage of India.
“Gifted artisans follow techniques that have been passed on through generations with a modern interpretation to make each piece unique, classic yet chic.
Textiles are used in a dramatic fashion employing aari and zardozi techniques, incorporating burnt sequences, powder-coated stones and hand-twisted metal stones. The detailing and intricacy demanded nearly 36 to 48 hours of committed workmanship on each piece to ensure they are delicate yet glamorous,” she says.
She ensures that each element in the accessories is innately Indian.
“All my pieces have quirky designs for the fashion-conscious teenager, for the elegant entrepreneur, for the new age bride and for the timeless beauty.”
So with such an eclectic blend on offer, team up those long-stranded beads (you can wear multiple pieces together), dangling earrings (they can be customised according to your choice of colour), bead bracelets and anklets with harem pants or a flowy tunic. A simple tussar sari, for instance, can also be effectively accessorised with a bold-beaded neckpiece. Then grab the eyeballs.