A look at the inspirations from China’s past that inform the creations of Dickson Yewn.
For Hong Kong-born jewelry artist Dickson Yewn creating jewelry is the perfect medium to tell the story of China’s past in a way that will resonate with contemporary wearers of his designs, he explains in the forward to the new book, Yewn: Contemporary Art Jewels and the Silk Road.
Chapters of the book are named after jewelry collections by Yewn, allowing author Juliet Weir-de La Rochefoucauld to not only shine a spotlight on his work but to offer a comprehensive guide to China’s history, from the cultural, religious, scientific and artistic ideas exchanged with merchandise along the famed Silk Road to the various dynasties that played a part in developing the Chinese culture. Close-ups of Yewn’s jewelry share pages with archival drawings and photographs, paintings and scrolls, quotes not only from Yewn but famed Chinese philosophers and authors to immerse the reader in the inspiration that speaks so strongly to Yewn.
We talked to author Weir-de La Rochefoucaud about the writing of this book and her appreciation for Yewn’s work. “I am particularly interested in his use of Chinese works of art as his starting point,” she shares, “and his wish to spread his nation’s extraordinary cultural past to new generations and to help people look at Chinese art in a fresh way.”
The symbolism in Yewn’s jewelry, she goes on to say, “carries similar meanings to those found on many of the works of art in China; it is about auspicious meanings used even today in everyday life. At its simplest, the symbolism is a good luck charm.” His jewels, she points out, “combine many of China’s most emblematic flowers such as the peony, cherry and peach blossoms, as well as [what is known as] the Four Gentlemen (Four Noble Plants): plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. Yewn will regularly use the outlines of flowers or foliage to create his designs. In one unusual manner, he creates ring shanks with outlines of pomegranates, peaches and apricots.” Other details the author notes include architectural and rarified artisanal details, “such as latticework, which was widely used in the past to create windows and screens.”
Yewn’s jewels have become a code in themselves, Weir-de La Rochefoucaud goes on to say, “distinctive because of their mix of classic ideas with contemporary designs. His rings, for example, have square shanks that are surprisingly comfortable to wear. These symbolize the square and the round in Chinese philosophy, representing harmony between heaven and earth.”
What makes Yewn’s jewelry stand out, she says, is that he has “deliberately aimed his jewelry at younger generations as well as those who can afford the more expensive pieces.” Those who collect his jewelry are “young people with successful careers in the 30-to-45-age group, who are curious about their heritage.” Well-known celebrities attracted to his pieces, she elaborates, include haute-couture designer Guo Pei as well as former first lady, Michelle Obama, who wore his jadeite Wish-fulfilling Lattice Square ring on a state visit to Great Britain in 2011.
Main image: Yewn Peony Pavilion bangle – black walnut wood, tsavorite garnet, yellow sapphire, diamond, mother-of-pearl, black rhodium-plated gold, yellow gold. (ACC Art Books)
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