Michelle Ong Interpreter of the Renaissance
So close and yet so far. The creative world of Chinese designer Michelle Ong, and that one of Piero della Francesca, merge in a one-of-a-kind necklace inspired by the Renaissance artist’s masterpiece, the Brera Madonna
Never ask Michelle Ong anything about her work. It would be a question she finds trivial. In her opinion, the jewelry she creates in her small studio in Hong Kong Central “speaks” for itself. A pragmatic innovator, a pioneer who loves the harmonious con- trasts with which she “dresses” her unique, feminine, light-as-air, poetic and dreamy items that sometimes also have a decadent mood. «Ideas simply just come», the designer says to Vivienne Becker, author of the book “Carnet by Michelle Ong”. «Creative ideas come from something you feel or see, something that inspires you. It is always so personal!» And it will probably have been Renaissance-style love at first sight that led Michelle Ong to conceive a pendant necklace inspired by Piero della Francesca’s painting “Brera Madonna”, on display at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. «My work has always been influenced by European Renaissance art,» Michelle Ong confessed at a presentation of the book in Milan. «This new cooperation with the Pinacoteca, however, came about through commitment to my charity, the First Initiative Foundation, in the art field. And when interest in creating a piece inspired by a great painting from the Brera collection emerged, I did not hesitate. Piero della Francesca’s masterpiece, its story, decorative details, spiritual power, narrative magnetism and main theme, that is, the birth of Christ, already englobe the essence of the jewelry item that was to represent it. I imagined an item that would meticulously interpret the work’s symbolism: the altar and the egg as symbols of a new beginning; the string of red beads around baby Jesus indicating life, death and redemption. Geometric in its striking oval shape, my pendant also has the power to include the patterns in the ceiling and floor shown in the painting, made even more magnetic by the choice of stones: white diamonds capture the silence of the entire scene, the divine spirit, the central ruby symbolizes passion, virtue, belief and the essence of femininity.»
