Arts

PROVOKING THE IMAGINATION

BRANDI COUVILLION

Of course, art comes in all forms and fashions. An often overlooked art is in jewelry making. In this issue, we turn to a master in this arena – Brandi Couvillion.

Originally from New Orleans, Brandi is inspired by the environment around her and the various states of its decay, along with its relationship with the everevolving natural landscape. Her jewelry work and accessories are inspired by architectural details such as decorative wrought iron and plasterwork, as well as historic maps and imagery—some dating from as early as the 1700s culled from archives—and make permanent an ephemeral aspect of our cities’ histories.

From raw sheets of metal, they transform into jewelry through an intensive, handcrafted process involving heat image transfers, various etchants, patinas and polishes, as well as hammer forming, ultimately becoming small, wearable archives in suspension. This adornment immortalizes the transitory landscapes of history: from trade routes and forgotten swamps to abandoned asylums whose architectural residue still decorates the landscape today.