The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s latest exhibition takes fashion to the next level.
Jewelry is the perfect finishing touch to every outfit, whether it is a 14-karat gold bracelet or silver earrings.
Artist Rachelle Thiewes has’ given jewelry a new perspective with a collection of bracelets, brooches, earrings and necklaces made with materials varying from steel and palladium to auto paint. Thiewes said her creations are ‘designed to engage and challenge the wearer, making them an active participant; an initiator of sounds and body rhythms.’
As a result, that is exactly how one feels when entering the Texas Masters Series: Rachelle Thiewes exhibition at the Center, open through Dec. 24. The exhibition is comprised of four collections named Mirage, Heat, Light Air, and Shimmer.
Mirage is a collection of bracelets and brooches with two main types of designs: some are strictly titanium, made with blue steel, chrome and silver, and the rest are more colorful, made with steel and auto paint.
The significant aspect of this collection is the reflection given off by its less-iridescent paint. This type of paint allows a vivid reflection of the bracelet to be seen on the display wall, and the brooches are amazingly molded into the shape of the reflection given from its companion bracelet.
Heat is a collection of earrings and bracelets made from steel, silver, 14-karat white gold and auto paint.
As its name suggests, Heat emphasizes earthy colors such as those of fire and water. Because the paint used on these pieces is more iridescent, the color also varies in different lights and at different angles, so some pieces may have a more reddish tone while some may look bluer.
Light Air is a collection of long, decorative necklaces and earrings made strictly from 18-karat white gold, silver and slate. These pieces feature small silver disks all around, and the charm-like feature in the middle has a rectangular shape decorated with more silver disks.
Shimmer features cylindrical earrings and bracelets made from 18-karat palladium white gold and silver disks. The three sets of earrings displayed have similar designs, but with the cylinder increasing in size at different angles.
The two bracelets feature the same aspect, but are much larger in size. The key aspects of these pieces are that they’re heavier than the rest of the pieces and are much more malleable.
Mirage, Heat, Light Air and Shimmer feature natural elements used not only to make one look more noticeable, but also to make viewers curious about whatever aspect of nature they represent.
