Jewellery & Metal (MA)
Tianqing Li
Tianqing Li, born on May 28, 1994, comes from Beijing,
China. Obtained bachelor's degree in Arts and Crafts program from Academy of Arts
& Design, Tsinghua University; majoring in Industrial Design from 2012 to
2014; majoring in Arts and Crafts from 2015 to 2017.
Explode: Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University
student show, Beijing, China
9th Chinese Modern Handicraft Exhibition, Nanjing, China
2017 Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University Degree
show, Beijing, China
Matter-morphosis: Jewelry & Metal student show, London, UK
Beijing International Jewelry Exhibition, Beijing, China
Jewelry Cultural Exchange exhibition, London, UK
Be Ture, Be You: Platinum Jewelry Competition, Commercial potential
award, Shenzhen, China
Contact
a jewellery maker, a florist. I love flowers since you can feel the wonder of
nature spontaneously when you appreciate them—feeling nature’s work when every
flower blooms into to various forms and every branch grows in a different
direction. We might believe all flowers look the same but close examination
reveals many beautiful, natural, complex differences to enjoy.
material that I use, and jewellery is the form that I choose for expression. Jewels not only decorate my dress but also
represent my style because they are shiny, exquisite, and wearable. Metals are
from nature but processed into raw, non-living material. To combine jewellery
and nature, show the vitality of metal and find a way to celebrate both metal’s
purity and permanence and the colorful and ever-changing life cycle of flowers is
what I want to develop.
The Last Fragrance-Forget me not
The Last Fragrance-Forget me not
The Last Fragrance-Forget me not
The Last Fragrance-Forget me not
Flowers, in particular are used to mark big moments in our lives. As time goes by, flowers themselves decay and die but their scent can be extracted and preserved. People tend to use photography and video to record special moments visually. However, smell can trigger memories and powerful responses almost instantaneously and psychologists have demonstrated that memories triggered by smells can be more emotional, as well as more detailed than memories retrieved in other ways. This is why I choose to use flowers and fragrance to evoke memories. Reticulation represents the process of flowers dying, and making a wearable sachet provides the opportunity to capture floral scent.
Medium:
Silver, copper, gold leafSize:
50*70*20mm
The Last Fragrance-Lily
The Last Fragrance-Lily
The Last Fragrance-Lily
The Last Fragrance-Lily
Flowers have been revered throughout history for their beauty, symbolism, medicinal value, smell, and importance in the food chain. Archaeology reveals that images of flowers have been used to decorate the earliest pots and vessels. Flowers and plants have always been a fascinating theme for artists and are the subject of many now famous paintings. Flower based jewellery flourished in the Victorian era due to the popularity of gardening and interest in the language of flowers. In this period representation of flowers in jewellery was realistic. Through close observation of the shape, form and colour of fresh flowers, designers and craftsmen perfectly reproduced many vivid and beautiful examples but over time, tastes changed and demand for a more abstract, simpler style developed. Today, flowers continue to be a popular theme in jewellery but it is my belief, that closer attention to the use of floral motifs in jewellery design can bring new concepts and greater originality to contemporary jewels.
Medium:
Silver, copper, gold leafSize:
50*70*20mm
The Last Fragrance-Jasmine
The Last Fragrance-Jasmine
The Last Fragrance-Jasmine
Smells affect people's lives from an early age. The ancient Egyptians used fragrant plants like cardamom, cassia, cinnamon, lemongrass, lily, myrrh, and rose to make Kyphi, the most complex and well-known Egyptian perfume, which was used both in religious ceremonies and medicinally, to treat disease. Hieroglyphics depict the ancient Egyptians making cone-shaped forms and wearing them as jewellery. Following the development of distillation technology, the popularity of aromatic spices and perfumes spread as these became coveted luxuries along trade routes between the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Beautiful fragrances were increasingly given more sacred and enticing labels. Even during the years of the plague, perfume was thought to be the best way to ward off disease. With the development of science and technology, perfume has been constantly innovated, to the point that it is considered a daily necessity for many people. In indulging in the complex and beautiful smells of today’s perfumes, it is easy to forget that these concentrated extractions have been considered a spiritual embodiment of nature, the soul of the plant perhaps. It is this idea that I wish those wearing my jewellery designs to connect with. Therefore, I put the petal with smell into the jewellery I made, to remember and record the memory.
Medium:
Silver, copper, gold leafSize:
65*70*25mm
The Last Fragrance-Daffodil
The Last Fragrance-Daffodil
The Last Fragrance-Daffodil
The appearance of petals changes over time as a plant grows and dies and as a result of environmental conditions. The petals began to wither, the color dulls, and the surface gradually becomes wrinkled. Reticulation is a technique that produces an incredibly beautiful texture in metal design. At high temperature, the surface of sheet metal begins to melt and change from flat and smooth to puckered and wrinkled. The effect is very similar to the changes that happen to petals when they lose moisture and start to dry up. Because metals are hard, durable, and permanent, I think metal is the perfect material and reticulation is the perfect technique to permanently capture the appearance of withered flowers. For this brooch, I have constructed a hollow form in the shape of a sachet using metal with a reticulated surface texture. The Brooch’s edge is stitched, mimicking the stitching used for the manufacture of traditional Chinese fabric sachets. In this case, I have used silver wire instead of thread. The brooch is filled with fragrant petals.