|
If Minimalism has an
opposite, Jennifer Parrish’s jewelry is it. Her ornately beaded necklaces,
jeweled crowns, and engraved amulets filled with frankincense all look like they
belong on a 16th-century Tudor queen.
But the cultural icons
ushering Parrish’s work into the spotlight are considerably more modern.
Television characters in primetime shows from “Ugly Betty” to “According to Jim”
have worn her necklaces onscreen, and in the upcoming movie “Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix,” you’ll see one of her stained-glass pendants
on—well, Parrish doesn’t know who yet. “Hopefully it will make it into the final
edit,” she says.
While Parrish welcomes
her television and movie sales, and the increased attention they bring her at
art shows, she finds it a bit odd that “some
people cannot imagine wearing something unless a celebrity has worn it first.”
For her own role models, Parrish looks back to Renaissance artists who lived
hundreds of years ago. “They gave their lives to their art and took their time,”
she says. “The grand paintings of Carlo Crivelli are among my favorites for
inspiration, so rich and lavish.” It’s no wonder Parrish is drawn to the
Renaissance era: as a child,
she
loved castles and fairytales.
After experimenting
with jewelry-making in high school, she studied glass, metalsmithing, and art
history at the Museum School; then, for nearly a decade, she made her
jewelry at night and worked days managing a hair salon. Around the time of her
30th birthday, Parrish
launched a Web site, walked out the salon door, and didn’t look
back.
Describing herself
jokingly as a shut-in, Parrish works alone in an attic studio in her
Stoneham, Mass., home, crafting each piece of jewelry by hand.
She starts with bits of glass and lumps of resin clay, and uses tiny carving
tools, antique-metal paint, and a convection oven to create work that looks at
once delicate and heavy, old-fashioned and fresh. The process is laborious, “but
it is also a bit of a daily meditation for me,” she says. “I find my peace
within the details.”
For more information about Parrish’s work, visit
www.parrishrelics.com.
|