With her latest exhibition of fine art jewelry, Michele Oka Doner is calling on collectors and kindred spirits to revisit what plants provide humanity in terms of food, protection, and nurturing.
The American artist partnered with London-based Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery (with whom she has an ongoing collaboration) to develop the pieces, which will be on display Nov. 7–11 at New York’s Salon Art + Design fair.
Oka Doner describes this collection as an homage to the so-called Botanic Age, when humans made plants and trees central to their creativity and development. The Salon Art + Design exhibit has three components: Winter Branches, a series of brooches; Talisman, a limited-edition pendant on a handmade necklace with a twining design; and Mitosis, five electroformed silver boxes.
Each piece is meant for a meditation, asking the wearer or viewer to recall a time when they felt at home in nature and how much the world needs plant life for sustenance, explains Oka Doner.
“The truth is, there is still no life on this planet without plants,” she says. “We are nature. There is no separation between us and other living things. Our skin is our bark. We inhale breath like the leaves on a tree. We need water to survive. There is a kinship.”
Oka Doner is concerned about “plant blindness,” a term adopted by academics and artists that refers to how the Industrial Revolution distanced humanity from the natural world. She thinks of her work as a call to action—urging people to serve as stewards of the Earth rather than its masters.
“I began making jewelry for myself using patterns and designs from the natural world when I wanted something to denote a special occasion. I couldn’t find jewelry that I connected with, or that created desire, in the traditional venues,” says Oka Doner, who received her bachelor’s and MFA degrees from the University of Michigan.
The nine Winter Branches brooches are made with bronze, 18k white gold, and old-cut diamonds. Each has a name that reflects the personality of whichever branch or twig Oka Doner used as inspiration.
She started making Winter Branches brooches in 2007. The original series sold out in a Christie’s sale, and she’s continued to add to the collection as she finds the right materials.
“Bronze was a material that was familiar, accessible. The shapes I imagined were strong, and bronze could easily hold them. From the very beginning they were small sculptures,” says Oka Doner.
“The use of diamonds to illuminate the bronze evolved as I imagined the forces of nature interacting with the shape. In my mind’s eye, a branching shape could easily be highlighted with frost or the morning dew.”
The artist says gallerist Cipriani understands her affinity for nature and how to translate those thoughts to the material world and show them in physical form.
“Nomen est omen—naming is the omen. One cannot protect what can’t be seen,” Oka Doner says.
Top: One of Michele Oka Doner’s Mitosis silver boxes, which will be exhibited at the Salon Art + Design show Nov. 7–11 in New York (photos courtesy of Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery)
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