Indianapolis, IN
Most Canadian and European children grow up reading stories about the Barbapapas, a family of ecologically conscious shape-shifters. Mom is a huge black amoeba, dad an even bigger pink one, and the seven children fill out the rest of the rainbow. Nathalie Maiello, a jewelry designer from Montreal, has fashioned necklaces that evoke their spirit and form—part visionary, part playful, and entirely biomorphic. The wearable art comes in a series of three, each constructed from powder-coated copper, a glycerin-filled vinyl sac, and a tightly woven cotton cord. The pairings of color—purple metal and yellow liquid, grey metal and red liquid, baby blue metal and orange liquid—are delightfully bold, and their shapes each unique. In addition to the Barbapapa reference (which, let’s be honest, it takes a certain nationality to get), oodles of others abound: bubbly letters, simple animations, mod furniture, so much more. And that’s just looking at the jewelry straight on. Imagine what happens when you actually wear it…
—Lori Waxman 2019-04-30 4:16 PM