SOLARIS ONYX PENDANT

This pendant is part of ‘Solaris’ – Series II of the collection “The Man Who Knows Everything’. The character who formed the muse for this collection is loosely based on the infamous Comte de St Germain. A man of unknown origin and unknown end – his death was reported countless times, and yet he always reappeared in another time, another place. Legend has it he was an alchemist who had discovered the elixir of life.

With ‘Solaris’ I wanted to create a world that he could inhabit – a world without boundaries – timeless and unplaceable. I became fascinated with the period of Enlightenment – a moment in time when science combined fluidly with magic. The alchemical contraptions created at this time are both beautiful and mystifying. Pieces of sculpture in themselves – they featured very strongly in my research.

I was also referencing the graphic work of the legendary Cassandre, the photography of Bernd and Hilla Becher and the Russian Constructivists. The colour palette is purposefully dark – to conjure up the feeling of lunar mysteries, night skies and time travel.

In this pendant the gold and stones are ‘orbiting’ a jet black onyx sphere. The emeralds and sapphires are designed to feel as if they are magically encasing the onyx – holding it in place at the neck. Sculpture is always important to me in my work and the 3-dimensionality of this piece means you can view it from every angle and have a different sense of the shape and forms.