Jewelry Is a Matter of Scale

From the maxi sculpture to the micro jewel and vice versa. The spirit of this journey is explained by artists Wallace Chan and Marie Khouri


  • Wearable sculptures in bronze by Marie Khouri

    Wearable sculptures in bronze by Marie Khouri

From the maxi sculpture to the micro jewel and vice versa. A dimensional journey revolving around the concept of scale and the value of its development, from large to small and back. The spirit of this journey is explained by Chinese artist Wallace Chan, taking his cue from his latest gigantic work on show in Venice, and Lebanese sculptor Marie Khouri, the author of ambitious sculptures and just as many petit bijoux

 

It is a question of scale as well as dialogue between materials and time. An approach shared by two all-round artists, Marie Khouri and Wallace Chan, who are so distant in their intimate way of conceiving a piece of jewelry or a sculpture, yet so close in their desire to give a concrete response to their personal connection with this spiritual and extra-large dimension. For the Chinese artist, the installation “Totem. A Dialogue between Materials and Time”, inaugurated at the Venice Art Biennale at the end of April, combines the philosophical aspects of his Buddhist faith with the innate properties of the materials he uses in his gigantic and spectacular titanium work. The 10-meter-high sculpture has been broken up into several parts and placed on the floor of Fondaco Marcello in order to break its integrity as a single form, suggesting fragility, social fragmentation and the imminent collapse of a pre-established order. «I started off as a carver in 1973 and it never mattered what I created,» Chan reveals. «All my jewelry has sculptured and carved elements, so when I find myself working with these large-scale titanium installations, I combine jewelry knowledge with knowledge of light, metallurgy, structure, tension.» In Vancouver, on the other side of the planet, Lebanese artist Marie Khouri creates large sinuous sculptures, which she then replicates on a smaller scale, turning them into organic bronze jewelry. «The concept of scale guides all my work,» says the artist

Scale
Sculptures in large scale by Marie Khouri.

«It is the key that opens doors and reveals my innermost world, made up of that purity with which I have surrounded myself since childhood and that I find in nature and landscapes. I think of myself as a sculptor but also as a refined jewelry designer, and these two worlds are closer than you might think. Together, they give me the wings to fly.»

Scale2
Sculptures in large scale by Marie Khouri.


  • Artworks from the installation Totem by Wallace Chan,

    Artworks from the installation Totem by Wallace Chan, "A Dialogue between Materials and Time", on show at Fondaco Marcello in Venice till October 23rd 2022

  • Artworks from the installation Totem by Wallace Chan,

    Artworks from the installation Totem by Wallace Chan, "A Dialogue between Materials and Time", on show at Fondaco Marcello in Venice till October 23rd 2022

  • Sculptures in large scale by Marie Khouri.

    Sculptures in large scale by Marie Khouri.

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