Eastern repousse and keum boo necklace with scrollworked bezel connections
For Rumi’s Luminous Confections, I created the Eastern repoussé segments individually, framed them in planished round wire, and highlighted their shapes with 24k gold keum boo. I set the rainbow hematites in 22k gold bezels and formed scroll-work sterling wire around them to add negative space in contrast with the solidity of the repoussé. The repousse segments' shapes are inspired by rumi designs in Islamic art. Like an arabesque is an abstracted leaf, a rumi is an abstracted bird or insect wing, and also the name of 13th century Persian mystic poet, Jalaluddin Rumi. As the necklace came together, my further abstracted and three-dimensional forms reminded me of chocolate confections, sprinkled with gold and colored sugars – a tribute to a poet who wrote of light and love.