Victoire de Castellane: Sculpting Jewellery
Victoire de Castellane’s jewellery pieces are created using the concepts of sculpture. An exhibition titled ‘animalevegetablemineral’ presents a new selection of independent pieces by the Creative Director of Dior jewellery.
De Castellane lives and works in Paris. Essentially self-taught – she attempted to make her first piece of jewellery at the age of five – she designed costume jewellery for Chanel for fourteen years. In 1998 she joined Dior as the first Creative Director of their jewellery department. De Castellane’s highly original collections for Dior have redefined haute jewellery for a new generation.
In 2007, she began an independent practice as a sculptor of unique precious objects, each containing a wearable element – ring, bracelet, or necklace – that can be detached from its sculpted base.
“My jewels are propositions. From the outset, this involves making an object that constructs itself out of many different things, and that sometimes ends up surpassing even what I had imagined for it. It is no longer primarily an accessory; it becomes something larger. It speaks about concept and form as opposed to objective value. It becomes sculpture,” said de Castellane.
De Castellane’s latest exhibition ‘animalevegetablemineral’ takes the very nature of materials as its starting point. Her pieces pull their inspiration from sources as diverse as the natural world, Hollywood screen idols, manga characters, pop culture and the depths of the subconscious.
‘animalevegetablemineral’ is on display at Gagosian London, from Tuesday 28 January until Saturday 1 February 2014.
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