australian jewellery company polli has teamed up with paper cutting artist emma van leest for a new collection of earrings and necklaces.
the pieces are inspired by european explorers’ search for an undiscovered paradise.
“the pieces are designed as talismans or mementoes that sailors might leave with their loved ones, or bring home to them, during the long, arduous and dangerous sea exploration journeys that were undertaken by the likes of abel tasman, captain cook and francis drake,” says van leest.
“these journeys were taken with fortune and glory in mind, in search of an undiscovered paradise which was believed to exist just beyond the boundary of the world as known to europeans. we know the consequences of these voyages were far more complex and far less triumphant than the sailors envisaged.”
this is reflected in the pieces through the juxtaposition of imagery such as a ship sailing on a bunch of grevillea or a dodo inside a crest and wearing a crown.
long time admirers polli approached van leest about the collaboration and she was so enthusiastic they started immediately.
designer tess lloyd, who started the brand with maja rose after meeting at university, says van leest fit in so well with the team because of energy and techniques.
“polli create original designs so emma’s method of sketching and collage before creating the paper cuts is very similar to our own processes,” she says. “polli is inspired by different cultures, natural forms and vintage treasures. emma’s themes are a perfect pairing. “emma has fantastic enthusiasm and was great to work with. she was so excited to see her work in a new medium and we were so excited to see our processes challenged with such intricate and fine designs.”
lloyd hopes the current collection won’t be the last polli sees of van leest.
“we’d love to work with emma again in the future. her method of paper cutting and creating a design made of positive and negative shapes is very similar to how we work, so it was a smooth integration from paper to stainless steel. hopefully we can work on different stories and in a wider range of products.”
Related News
