Reframing Heritages
Contemporary Jewelry
Contribution: Design, Silver Forming& Fabrication
Collaboration: Cork carving by Ruiyu Zheng
Reframing Heritage is an ongoing series that examines how traditional cork carving enters contemporary jewelry through a collaborative process. I design and hand-fabricate silver structures that hold, support, and reframe the cork, allowing the craft to move beyond its conventional picture-frame format and into wearable forms. The work brings together the contrasting material qualities of hard silver and soft cork, using this tension to build new structural relationships. The silver forms draw from observations of natural growth systems—branches, roots, and other patterns of attachment—connecting material dialogue with cultural continuity to open new possibilities for activating heritage through design.
Piece I isInspired by the concept of Ikebana, this ring allows the wearer to place a cork carving into the silver base. The cork can be replaced or adjusted, creating different compositions on the hand.
Piece II is inspired by the idea of epiphytes—plants that grow on other plants for support. The silver structure develops around the cork carving like a cocoon, attaching to it while leaving parts of the cork visible. Both materials maintain their own form, creating a structure where each depends on the other without merging into one shape.
Piece III continues this exploration with a more open composition. Using cork carved from a pine tree, the silver extends outward in several directions, touching the cork at specific points rather than enclosing it. The silver can also suggest a changed or dried state of the cork, echoing the original material while forming its own structure.
Piece IV mirrors the texture of the cork leaf by recreating it in silver. The silver leaf captures the moment of afternoon light on falling leaves, giving the piece a subtle, interwoven shimmer.
Piece V uses silver as a root-like structure that grows around the cork, forming a simple frame that holds and outlines the piece.