Among the many things 2020 is turning out to be, it is a year of in-betweens. There are days when the rapidly evolving news cycle seems to have some of the restless, high speed energy of a hummingbird, one that is suspended between earth and sky, with no roost in sight. Some of this mood is captured in the work of Brooklyn-based jeweler Rachel Weld Newton, particularly her Caged | Uncaged collection, made of gold, diamonds, and black jade. The delicate construction of these curvilinear pieces requires a combination of handwork and 3-D printing. The resulting pieces play ephemerality against substantiality at a time when sure footing is difficult to find.
As a former ballerina Newton understands the importance of balance; and she knows the strength and technical prowess required for a dancer, en pointe, to effect the ability to walk on air. As an architect, Newton also understands positive and negative space, and how parts fit together as a whole, and she brings all that together in structured pieces that leave space for the wearer to insert herself into their design.
Weld’s adventures in jewelry making began with the inheritance of a cache of Victorian jewelry. As well as carrying family history, these pieces speak to the period from which they came, one of petticoats and industrialization. “Looking past the embellishments they have a mechanistic quality,” Newton notes. “The joinery is very legible and articulated. Many times Victorian jewelry served a function—it was a decorated tool.” Studying these century-old pieces helped her unlock modern ways of thinking about and making jewelry.
“[My] pieces are not a reflection of status,” Newton adds. “They do not necessarily take on a recognizable form. I hope that they incite engagement on both a formal and conceptual level. If there are no layers of meaning for me during the design process, there is no reason to make it.”
Her methods are a physical manifestation of lessons learned from George Balanchine. The choreographer, she says, “broke with traditions. He looked beyond the formal tableaux. He was interested in how the dancer got to that final pose and how he or she pushed beyond limits. Balanchine was after the transitional steps, electrified movement where the dancer becomes the music. At that time in the early 20th century, this was a modern concept, moving ballet into a language of abstraction.”
The combination of hardware and technology (computer mapping and 3-d printing) allows Newton to bridge the spaces in her work. One of the defining characteristics of her pieces is the room around them. Take, for example, an airy caged claw cocktail ring of gold with diamonds illuminating its “joints,” or a dangle earrings in which a comet-like ball of black jade is caught mid-flight.
For Newton, jewelry is a philosophical and material extension of the self. Wearing it is an interpretive and performative act; as an object that sits upon the skin it becomes an extension of the body. “I hold onto the words of one of my favorite ballet teachers, Catherine Kingsley,” relates the designer. “She used to say, ‘Titties to the wind, dear Rachel, titties to the wind.’ In other words, chin up, shoulders back, and bring your heart and soul forward. That is your light and beauty. When I put jewelry on, I feel it. I stand taller in my own skin.”
