Ana Khouri builds on a fascination with unusual materials including Brazilian rosewood, crystal, and rose quartz in new work available at The Row NY, LA and London.
The new pieces draw on the jewellery designer’s familiar forms in fairmined gold, embellished with pastel hues or sprinkled in white diamonds. ‘I set my artistic energies to applying everything I know about jewellery to materials less familiar to my work,’ Khouri says on the new materials. ‘I became absorbed in the relationships between crystals, rocks, rosewood and metals, as well as their inherent tension. Working with these new materials required me to adapt some of my imaginative ambitions and make them something fundamentally new. But still staying true to my artistic aesthetics. Experimenting with these novel materials has in turn allowed me to design pieces that reflect some of my truest instincts.’
Ana Khouri jewellery at The Row
The rings, earrings and bracelets of the new work embrace new and bright hues, with ear cuffs in turquoise, amethyst, crystal and rosewood bringing a bold edge to the sculptural swirl of a classic silhouette. ‘I sought to render these unique elements into pieces as if they were communing,’ adds Khouri. ‘I discovered a wonderful and surprising affinity within, resulting in a work that places artistic merit, elegance and craft well beyond its value. Each of these pieces not only retains the magic inherent to their individual components, they are made transcendent by these new entanglements. In my mind, these pieces are a reflection of the union between all that exists in nature, and a reminder of our esteemed place within that harmony. Somewhere in that vision, not just in the world of jewellery, perhaps we might collectively arrive at a new language of beauty.’
Khouri was inspired by the new materials and the natural world for this work at The Row, although going in a new direction creatively was not without its challenges. ‘It felt revolutionary because it opened up a re-examination of my craft,’ she says. ‘That is always challenging. As often happens, new ideas gave way to new energy, and with it, an evolution in my approach to jewellery.’
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