Last weekend's show at Shibumi Gallery introduced Maya Kini's studio work. We have already been selling her beautiful Mokume rings as commitment & wedding bands. Her woodgrain patterns in Mokume fit with our aesthetic & commitment to subtle beauty.
Along with her most recent body of work, her daughter Delilah June, born this year, she continues her jewelry + object making. Maya's work is poetic and shares the organic quality that I love with the thoughtfulness of observing everyday objects and nature. She curiously has explored the household drain. Drain Brooch below, silver & sugar fired enamel.
"Passing through. The drain is a non-object - a device to filter, refine, strain, collect. Life seems to reside in the plumbing that connects the drains. This sense that material is always moving is what motivates me to make and unmake. I search for a delicate prestige that I can confer upon a material through making, before these objects become matter again. "
Other elements (Spear Studs below in 18k gold) are cast directly from nature paired with her embedded Raw Diamond Rings from her Botanix Series.
Maya's pieces from her Moth Series, 18k earrings below, are as graceful as she is. Also I love the simple shapes of her sugar fire enamel Bird Brooches. Maya made these while in residence in Mendocino watching the ravens fly by, each one is hand-cut out of steel and attaches with a strong magnet.
And a couple casual shots from the day at Shibumi...
A quiet moment with Maya's husband Shamus, baby Delilah, and their friend's daughter.