Written by Alexis Castillo-Snyder
Photographs by Alexis Castillo-Snyder
It is understandable that SCAD Style is truly focused on the renowned guests, but SCAD makes it a point to engross the students and their individual works of art in the week of celebrating style, too.
This year the SCAD Museum of Art hosted a public, two-day trunk show featuring exceptional jewelry by SCAD students. At 4 p.m. sharp on Wednesday, the crowd, including jewelry designer Eddie Borgo, took over the second floor of the museum. Styles ranged from geometric earrings to statement brooches. Jewelry was laid out on large white square displays and some hung on mannequins. All of the pieces were up for sale, ranging from $500 to a whopping $5,000.
It was clear that attention to exquisite detail was existent in all works presented. Chair of the jewelry department Jay H. Song admired a student’s talent as she pointed at a floral necklace and explained that the petals were “the texture of sea shells.”
Each design was tremendously unique and distinctive. Elderly southern women inspired one student who combined bronze, brass, copper, chalcedony and 24k plating materials with soft pearl accents and large bows to create rich necklaces.
On the other end of the spectrum, Carla Farfán added to the growing trend of wearable technology and lit up the show – literally – with a thick brass necklace that illuminated the interior with a purple LED strip lights.
Storytelling inspired other students like Karen Kriegel, who is double majoring in fashion marketing and jewelry design.
“My inspiration [was] time and how people spend their days. I found this story of a guy who found out that people live 75 years. And then he went around to all the toys stores and bought about 3,500 marbles because those were all the Saturdays he had left in his life. He put them in a plastic container and every Saturday he would take one marble and throw it away. [The day] he took the last marble out the man said in a radio interview that he was taking his wife out for breakfast.” Kriegel added, “A lot of people take time for granted and I wanted to always have that reminder.”
One of the most eye-catching pieces was by Catie Curran, who went with metallic green Elytra – authentic beetle wings to be exact – to construct her one-of-a-kind statement necklace and brooch.
Faculty members and non-jewelry students were not the only ones who stood admiring the baubles; SCADstyle visitors, who are some of the biggest names in the jewelry design business, were equally as impressed with what the students had to deliver.
Hours before the show opened, Jodie and Danielle Snyder, founders of the jewelry brand Dannijo, posted a photo of student Maura Lenahan’s collection to their Instagram account. The caption read, “Dear Maura Lenahan, You’re good, real good.” – an electrifying start to the day for Lenahan, to say the least.
Students’ successes were evident as small pieces of jewelry swiftly exited their displayed locations to be purchased – the ultimate and most fulfilling reward for those who put an immense amount of time, diligence and hard work into producing exclusive designs.