Technology and Tradition: Gearry Suen

This Chinese-born, UK-based emerging designer credits his varied style to his fine-art training and multicultural identity.

Having recently graduated from London’s Royal College of Art after completing his degree at Central Saint Martins, Gearry Suen is one of the most exciting emerging fine-jewelry artists of the moment.

Winner of Theo Fennell’s Royal College of Art (RCA) award for Overall Excellence, Suen was also widely lauded by senior industry editors after exhibiting his designs at this year’s virtual Goldsmiths’ Fair. Suen’s fine-art training informed his creative process, and his instinct for beauty emerged early — eventually leading him to jewelry.

“When I was very young, I used to paint on the wallpaper in my house!” he shares. “I learnt watercolor and traditional Chinese ink painting as a child, and while I loved the creative process of painting, I missed one element — wearability. My purpose evolved into combining art and wearable objects, and jewelry became the natural choice.”

Gearry Suen The Conversation Earrings in titanium and 18k gold, with sandalwood, Padparadscha sapphire, emerald, spinels, tanzanite and multicolour diamonds — The Conversation earrings in titanium and 18-karat gold with sandalwood, padparadscha sapphire, emerald, spinels, tanzanite and multicolor diamonds.

Unconventional forms
Suen’s jewelry employs a mixture of fine-art styles: surreal motifs and structures, Baroque elements, natural inspirations, and Art Nouveau figural representations. His work is dream-like in theme and form — transcending conventional definitions of earrings, brooches, rings and cuffs, with an oversized asymmetry that belies that these designs are intended to be jewelry sculptures. From the Conversation and the Chimera earrings, to the Carbon Storm on Venus brooch, Suen’s pieces feature a miasma of artistic references and influences, deconstructed and reformed into wearable artworks.

It’s difficult to imagine an emerging designer achieving such complex feats, but Suen is unafraid to marry new technology and traditional methods. He explains, “One of my favorite parts of the creative process is transforming an abstract painting into 3D sculptures. At the same time, I enjoy hand-carving a wax model — which gives me that very real physical connection with a piece.”

Gearry Suen - The Chimera Earrings - details 4 - in titanium and gold, with multicolour diamonds, sapphires, spinels, Paraiba tourmalines, emeralds and hauynites — The Chimera earrings (detail) in titanium and gold with multicolor diamonds, sapphires, spinels, Paraiba tourmalines, emeralds and hauynites.

Beyond boundaries
Featuring a vast range of materials such as titanium, precious wood, jade and a spectrum of diamond and gemstone colors — while using virtual-reality renderings alongside ancient techniques like stone carving — Suen’s jewelry is truly defined by a harmonious disparity. He confirms that sometimes, the most traditional material can defy expectations: “I love to work with rose-cut diamonds,” he says. “The thickness and facets of rose-cut diamonds provides transparency, yet creates texture. It feels playful to lay rose cuts next to brilliant- and old-cut diamonds.”

Suen’s artistic design style reflects his own blended, multifaceted persona, he observes. “I was born near the borders of northern China and Far East Russia, and first came to the UK when I was 18, and it seems that most artists of my generation do not consider themselves to have a singular identity: We represent a multicultural generation in an entirely globalized environment. My jewelry is not only an interaction between Eastern and Western culture, but is also a representation of the future meeting the past,” he concludes.