The Five Elements

Five Elements explores how cultural symbolism can be translated into contemporary jewelry through material, texture, and form.

Inspired by the traditional Chinese concept of the Five Elements—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—the project reinterprets each element as a wearable object. Rather than directly representing these forces through recognizable symbols, the work focuses on their material qualities and associations.

Natural minerals, ores, and found materials were selected for their textures, colors, and cultural connotations. Through casting, carving, and assembly, these materials were transformed into jewelry forms that embody different elemental characteristics. Burnt wood, textured stone, metallic fragments, and mineral surfaces become physical references to growth, erosion, transformation, and permanence.

Each piece functions as an individual interpretation while remaining connected to a larger system of relationships between the five elements. Together, the collection examines how traditional cosmological ideas can be translated into contemporary objects through material language.

The project considers jewelry as a medium for carrying cultural narratives, transforming abstract concepts into intimate, wearable forms.

Materials

Pewter, stone, wood, minerals, found materials, and mixed metals

2023