Art925 Jewelry Pop-up: Made in Italy
Coming to Elgin!
Friday, December 21, 5-7pm
Villa Verone, 13 Douglas Avenue
Elgin, IL 60120, T 847.742.0263
villaveroneristorante@gmail.com http://villaverone.net
Elgin area native, jewelry designer and artist, Naomi Rachel Muirhead of art925, will be presenting her jewelry pieces featuring vintage Elgin watches faces and movements and other found objects, designed and hand-crafted in Florence, Italy. This special traveling trunk show, just in time for the holidays, will take place on Friday, December 21 from 5-7pm at Villa Verone, 13 Douglas Avenue, Elgin, IL60120, T 847.742.0263. villaveroneristorante@gmail.com http://villaverone.net
“Featured in this show are several pieces designed using vintage watch parts I find from various sources – watches that have been worn, discarded and often dismantled in to useful parts. I began using watch parts, especially the faces, because I was interested in the graphic elements and curious about the technical beauty of the inner movements which are produced less and less these days due to digital technology. During the design process, I’ve wondered where these watches have traveled and on whose wrist they’ve enhanced. Because the jewelry pieces are void of the watch hands, set in resin, framed in .925 sterling silver, the result is a unique one-of-a-kind piece, a design frozen in time.
Many of the watch faces in my work are from watches originally made by the now defunct Elgin National Watch Company (Elgin, Illinois). The irony is that I am from Elgin and I remember the old watch factory, a historic building where now a shopping mall stands. While living in Italy, I can be subtly reminded of my childhood and of the passage of time from then to now.
Ultimately In my work, I want to freeze time, preserve the “lives” of these watch parts and make them timeless.”
