Conversation Pieces

Wearable values from female artistic knowledge

The Conversation Pieces of Post-Colonial Gold emerge from an analysis of female artists and cultural icons who have shifted the way we look.

The foundation lies in the project 100 Women in Art You Need to Know: a research project on female artists who did not only create images, but made values visible that are meaningful again today. Artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama, Marina Abramović, Yoko Ono, Agnès Varda and others form part of this investigation.

In this series, their work is not literally quoted. Instead, the focus is on what lies beneath the image: which value does the work carry, which form of knowledge, attitude or presence becomes visible, and which quality do we need for a next generation?

That value is then translated into a wearable object: form, colour, material, structure and position on the body. The result is not classical jewellery, but a conversation piece: an object that can be worn, raises questions and gives access to a wider layer of knowledge.

Some pieces also refer to women beyond the visual arts, such as Diana Vreeland, Peggy Guggenheim, Grace Jones, Tilda Swinton, Patti Smith or Tina Turner, when they have shifted a visual code. They are not approached as celebrities, but as carriers of attitude, style intelligence and cultural change.

Each object is connected to its own value. Georgia O’Keeffe stands for Essential Form: the power of reduction in a time of excess. Louise Bourgeois stands for Emotional Architecture: the body as a space where memory settles. Yoko Ono stands for Conceptual Peace: emptiness as an active space for imagination. Peggy Guggenheim stands for Patronage Power: an instinct for what becomes meaningful before it is safe or recognised.

The artist or icon is the starting point. The value becomes the bridge. The object becomes the carrier.

Through a unique ID and QR code, each conversation piece can be connected to a digital layer: the artist, the value, the visual reference and the meaning for this time.

Not jewellery, but a value that has taken form.