The world of fantasy has always found its most exquisite expression in jewellery. And no one creates a world of such precision and imagination, precious stone upon precious stone, capturing rivulets of water, the shimmering wings of a butterfly, and budding flowers, than the Hong Kong-based, Taiwan-born art jeweller, Cindy Chao.
Nature in its endless wonder is a constant source of inspiration for Chao. “Nature teaches human beings to be humble but also lets us know there exist possibilities beyond imagination in the world,” she says. For the creative force behind Cindy Chao The Art Jewel, it’s the possibilities that she finds particularly rewarding because “that is how nature has inspired some of the greatest artworks in human history.”
See also: The Metamorphosis Of Cindy Chao
Photo: Chiang Ming Shih for Tatler Asia
Chao does more than render objects from nature. As her much-lauded Four Seasons and Rose collections spectacularly demonstrate, she captures a series of beautiful fleeting moments of nature that she says “properly mirror the change of my mindset as an artist and the growth of my brand. Frozen winter leaves, withering roses, growing branches, flowers in bloom… these are the classic themes praised by artists of antiquity but are now transformed into jewellery sculptures, each unique in its own way.” And embedded in each piece is the “vivid life and emotion” that she herself has experienced face-to-face with nature.
Like the detail inherent in her creations, her process is painstaking and ultimately exhilarating.
“Sometimes”, she explains, “I have a creative idea and would start carving on wax right away. If I am not near my wax sculpting tools, then I quickly draw forms and colours on my sketchbook, [which makes me] anxious to get back to my studio to sculpt the wax model.”
Sometimes, she says, she might “come across incredible gemstones that call out to me,” and be inspired to centre a piece around them. But wax sculpting is always at the core of her creative process, and the part she enjoys the most. It harkens back to her admiration for the masters of 18th-century jewellery. “For me, it is more than a way to create; it’s my inner meditation where I can roam free in my own world.
Photo: Chiang Ming Shih for Tatler Asia
