JEREMY ISAMU IRVIN
Cluster Contemporary Jewellery Exhibitor | 2022 | December 2024
Jeremy Isamu Irvin’s work is based on the hybridisation of convention and progress. He fell in love with jewellery while learning silversmithing; the ritual of making objects according to tradition and the reverence given to process and technique are integral to him as a maker. However, he sees his work as more than a perpetuation of tradition, but rather an expansion of jewellery’s potential.
Paper was historically revered in many cultures, and is integral to many forms of fine art. When it is used and discarded, it loses many of these associations. However, by carving and utilizing a material created out of this refuse in jewelry, it is converted once more, recontextualised back into a precious setting. Acrylic is plastic, a modern material often associated with cheapness and disposability. By carving, gilding, and polishing it to emphasize reflections and translucency, it becomes elevated and precious, providing optical effects unable to be easily achieved with traditional jewelry media.
Jeremy Isamu Irvin is an artist and educator based in Washington state, USA. Born and raised in Hawai’i, he grew up surrounded by artwork from East Asia and the Pacific. His visual style draws inspiration from his heritage, as well as from his love of Modernist sculpture and painting. He received his BA in Economics but developed a love for silversmithing and jewelry design at the beginning of his university studies, culminating in four years of jewelry courses, an apprenticeship, and eventually, a Masters of Fine Art in Jewelry and Metals Design.
During his graduate studies, he began experimenting with the implementation of nontraditional materials into his work as an exploration of jewellery’s potential. However, he believes in the importance of remaining connected to the craft and discipline that he fell in love with, and still relies on traditional silver work and fabrication methods in every piece.
He has had work selected for exhibitions and publications such as the Society of North American Goldsmith’s Jewelry and Metals Survey of innovative work, the Museum of Arts and Design’s MAD About Jewelry exhibition, and Milano Jewelry Week.
Irvin’s jewelry incorporates nontraditional materials with silversmithing to bridge the past with the present. His current body of work utilises acrylic and a recycled paper composite. Combinations of these two form the fronts of pieces, what viewers most easily see, while silver forms the backside of each piece, a conceptual and physical framework.
2022
WAVE PENDANT
WAVE EARRINGS
RED & GOLD EXPRESSION PENDANT