New York–Lizworks, a company that connects contemporary artists with brands for unique projects, has made its first venture into the realm of fine jewelry with a limited-edition charm bracelet.
Lizworks partnered fine jewelry brand Ippolita with seven female artists who were tasked with designing one charm apiece.
The result is “Charmed,” a karat gold bracelet representative of the contemporary art landscape.
“The charm has been used by women to connect, share and save memories from generation to generation,” said Liz Swig, the founder of Lizworks. “It is a form of love among women. This bracelet elevates a piece of jewelry to a piece of art.”
The seven artists who participated in the project are: Laurie Simmons, Shirin Neshat, Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Rachel Feinstein, Mickalene Thomas and Wangechi Mutu.
Simmons, who works predominantly in photography, took inspiration from her mother’s charm bracelet, which fascinated her as a child. Thomas created a pair of sparkling blue lips, based off a physical trait represented in some of her paintings.
Kruger also distilled aspects of her work into her charm, which is a coin that reads, “Money can buy you love.” (One of Kruger’s most iconic paintings depicts the saying, “I shop therefore I am.”)
Sherman, renowned for her self-portraits in which she dresses as a disparate cast of characters, enclosed two mini self-portraits in a polished gold egg charm.
“Charms are tiny emblems of meaning, evidence of memories, and tokens of love,” said Ippolita’s designer, Ippolita Rostagno. “They are unfettered by normal canons of beauty are, in fact, made more special by their attributes: small, charming, funny, narrative and precious.”
For Rostagno, blurring the line between fine jewelry and fine art came naturally. She’s the daughter of an American artist and an Italian intellectual. She studied sculpture in Florence prior to launching her namesake fine jewelry line in 1999.
“I wish to create handcrafted jewelry that women want to wear all the time, that’s easy and that makes you feel good. Not intimidating, simply transforming,” she said.
Liz Swig is a patron of the arts, a collector and fundraiser. She founded Lizworks in 2014. Some of the partnerships she has facilitated include a project with artist Jeff Koons and Bernardaud, the renowned maker of china and porcelain, and artist Beth Campbell with Hugo Boss.
Charmed will be available in limited quanitities from Ippolita. Price is available upon request.
For more information, contact Ippolita’s Madison Avenue store.