Have you ever been blog-scooped? You know, you sit down to write something, only to discover that one of your favourite blogs has written about it already (and, in fairness, much better)? That happened to me last week, when I sat down to scrape some London Fashion Week photos out of my camera, only to discover that Style Bubble had done a frankly,
epic post on Jordan Askill.
Askill is a Sydney native, exhibited as part of
Newgen and specialises in intricately wrought jewellery that is hand-carved but drawn with the aid of computer programmes. It's this synthesis between past and present, traditional and technology, that has become the main point of focus in his work and, it has to be said, is nothing short of a breath of fresh air in a stuffy room of bling and intimidating knuckledusters.
The above is from Askill's current collection. This cherub head pendant is roughly the size of your thumbnail, at most about the length of this line _______ (probably a little bit more if you have a high-res monitor.
I was lucky enough to meet Askill in the Newgen tent and get some very nice compliments on the rings I was wearing. Mercifully, I was too nervous to gush all over him (metaphorically, that is), but unfortunately not too nervous to mentally high five myself and impart on him a very long, boring story about the history of the rings and where I got each one and, and, and... I'm boring even myself now. If you see this Jordan (and your lovely friend too), I am truly sorry.
Here are some slightly blurry close-ups of his S/S '11 collection. They do no justice to the craftsmanship and time taken to conceive such pieces. It's rare to see jewellery that displays and obvious concern with both concept and execution. The term 'high-concept' really gets bandied about too often but in this case it's true - the amount of care that goes into this is beyond the norm. Once you hold of one these pieces in your hand you know you're holding something precious and rare. You'll know that no-one is doing anything quite like Askill.
While this season is angelic, Askill has turned back to more primal influences for Spring/Summer with studies of tigers, bears and horses. These are all derivations and meditations on a sculpture Askill did of 65 horses galloping in unison, which you can see in full on his website. The sculpture is also fully incorporated into a series of harnesses (click on the Style Bubble
post to see; I haven't seen then anywhere else online). The details is Amazing with a capital A, I can't express it enough, and I come away from this post a tad uneasy as I feel like a haven't done his work justice. For once I can't find the words. Usually it's too many words, which is also a problem.
You should probably go to his website and step into a new world (and do a bit of healthy coveting).
You could look at his JORDY diffusion line, which is a line of more accessible, but equally adorable rings and bangles. Dibs on the hidden sapphire heart ring.
Mostly though, he just seems like a lovely person with an intelligent, artistic mind and a passion for innovation and craftsmanship. If that doesn't deserve to be supported, I don't know what does.
