'SANGUINE BONDS'
Design journal
Moodboards
Principal
Moodboard
'Bonds'
a relationship between people or groups based on shared feelings, interests, or experiences.
'Sanguine'
optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.
Runway Lighting
Runway Styling
Visual References
Metal + Jewelry Components
Metals have always fascinated me in equal senses of their rigid strength and dependability as a finished refined object, yet excellent malleability, and unyielding recyclability. To manipulate metal to its greatest potential requires heat, patience, repetitive force, and the discipline of its craftsperson. It can be liquid, and it can be solid. It can be soft and it can be hard, sharp or dull, light or heavy, valuable or paltry.
The resilience of metal reminds me in many ways of the indomitable human spirit.
Most family heirlooms that I own are made of metal and are holding up quite well today, in the same way, its former owners stories, legacy, and conviction, have stood the test of time through inherited values
Look # 3 Hollow rings
The idea of clanhood led me to create these hollow signet rings. I was driven away from creating a set of unified replicas;
this set of rings aims to capture a collective identity of individual strengths, values, and experiences.
They are constructed with a range of noble metals in different band sizes and surface treatments.
Look #5 Nickel ribcage
As an homage, this design was directly inspired by the legendary collaborations between Jeweler Shaun Leane, and fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen, who created the "Spine Corset" for McQueen's 1998 Spring ready to wear collection, 'Untitled' (Golden Shower)
Following the idea of the corporeal experience, I created this armoresque wearable sculpture to nod to the simultaneously vulnerable fragility and boundless strength of the human body and mind.
Sheet nickel sections were partially cut with an industrial water jet cutter and partially by hand as reflection on the capability and timeless touch of a human body in the era of modern advanced technology. The sections were joined into the rib plates with brass rivets, then along the spine with handmade brass hinges to be able to wrap around the body. A leather harness was created with a pocket for the base of the spine to sit in at the sacrum, using the tension of the front of the shoulder to maintain the closure.
Look # 5 Silver cuffs and ring
Cuttlefish bone casting dates back to the 16th century in the Mediterranean, and was popularly used by goldsmiths and other metal craftspeople globally until the mid 1900s
I connected very deeply with this technique particularly because of the specific nature of the material - it being the remains of a once living creature, It evokes redemption, succession, and ascension. Bone, a symbol of death, instead rings with optimism when employing it to create a new and beautiful object of permanence.
Additionally, the microstructure of Cuttlebone has a geometric kinship with grid structures which is where the 'EEBEE' logo comes from, and is a metaphor for the connectivity of all things.
Metal casting in tufa stone is a technique that was originated in the late 1800s in the southwest americas by native tribes including the Navajo, Zuni, and Hopi. Tufa is an easily carvable material composed of compressed volcanic ash.
Experimentation with this technique eventually led to the creation of the button used on the jacket in Look #4.
Look # 4 Bronze rings
The gold ring on the left was given to me from my grandfather who has worn it for the last 25 years as long as I've been alive, and was used as a model to create the ring on the right, a bronze cast utilizing the cuttlefish bone casting technique.
Copper ring
This ring, created using Repoussé and Chasing,
is meant as a shield emblazoned with a coat of arms.
Starring the motifs of a book and sword, this object
represents the virtues of wisdom and justice
Stamped across the pages of the book is the motto
"My hope is constant in thee"
which is taken from the clan Donald of Scotland,
which is a callout to my familial heritage.
Belt buckle
Garment Development
Sketch lineup
Look #1
Look #2
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Look #3
Look #4
Look #5
