Trained as a sculptor, the celebrated jewelry designer creates pieces that adapt to the wearer’s body.
Ana Khouri has earned critical acclaim and commercial success by deftly maneuvering between the worlds of contemporary art and high fashion. Trained as a sculptor, she considers herself an artist whose medium is jewelry. Her creations include both elegant and avant-garde shapes that are designed to embrace and move with one’s body. Her newest pieces range from circular earrings that hug the lobes to an elaborate ornamental headpiece. Diamonds frequent her designs, contrasted with the occasional pop of green from emeralds.
The 39-year-old Brazilian native lives and works in New York, where her fine-jewelry pieces are handcrafted. Her one-of-a-kind high-jewelry creations are made in Paris, where she shows them once a year at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, during Paris Haute Couture Week. She has received awards in France and England, was a finalist for the 2020 Gem Awards and is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
All of her precious gems are responsibly sourced, and she recently sold two of her high jewels in which all proceeds went to Doctors Without Borders and Common Thread, a charity spearheaded by Vogue and in collaboration with the CFDA.
What are the most important elements in your work?
I don’t simply want my work to adorn, or to stand alone as beautiful objects. I want my designs to evoke their connection to space — its vastness, its majesty and its superlative form. The very process and purpose of designing jewelry — of refining and one’s signature — is, for me, to eventually locate this fine and [elusive] quality.
How do you describe the sculptural elements in your creations?
The designs are about the myriad ways that a piece can take shape on the wearer, and the balance the work creates with the body, connecting to it. The pieces adapt to the body, becoming one solo extension of the body. It’s about empowering the woman by molding the pieces to her body, and as she moves the movement of the pieces compliments her.
How do you work with diamonds in terms of sourcing?
All our precious gems are responsibly sourced, certified and have not been altered in any laboratory. Ethical thinking is a parcel of the way I was brought up. It was natural for me to work with this mindset. I’ve always believed that you should do what you believe in, stand out and make a change. I want to help promote responsible, ethical, social and environmental practices, contributing to the change I want to see in the world.
What’s it like being a Brazilian in New York? Do you take inspirations from both cultures?
Growing up in Brazil, I was always outside in nature, either surfing or horseback riding. I learned the importance of respecting nature and taking care of our environment. Brazil is such a beautiful country and at the same time so very rich in culture. It’s a nation made of immigrants from all over the world. Another very important upbringing lesson I’ve learned in Brazil was to respect and appreciate the differences, especially among cultures. I believe both of these aspects have given me the tools I needed to survive in most places. With that being said, New York has made me stronger in a good way. It has helped me shape my work and stand up for what I believe. I like the unity of both worlds.
What are your views on contemporary high jewelry and what do you contribute to this current jewelry period?
My idea of jewelry goes beyond the intended purpose of ornamentation, entering more into the realm of art and sculpture. In the same way that an ordinary object can be elevated to the level of art, so too can jewelry be further elevated through a renewed focus on its form and design. The work should have an eternal quality, but one must also aspire to imbue the pieces with another essence.
Tell us about your latest collection. What inspired it, what materials did you use and what is its general theme?
We do not make collections. We present our high-jewelry work once a year in Paris at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Our exhibitions are always in the form of installations. The last installation was “Harmony.” Though we have a sense of what the natural world looks and feels like, we have little understanding of where its magic comes from. Creating art was once our way of participating in and understanding that magic. It may seem odd to say, considering the scientific and technological abundance we find ourselves in, but the more those pursuits overrun our lives, the more we lose a sense for the connection we have with the world. My desire is to reconnect with nature through my work. From the beginning, my work has been a way to communicate a sense of harmony — of knowing my place in the world and being fully present within it.
What does it mean to be a creator in the time of the coronavirus?
I’ve been focused on ways I can use my jewelry to make a difference — I’ve donated 100% of the proceeds from several pieces to raise funds for COVID-19 relief efforts. The pandemic cannot stop creativity and we can overcome this together, if we choose love over fear. I believe we are all going to come out of this more conscious of how we love, live and interact with the universe.
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