Alexander Calder was one of the most prolific artists from the 1940’s through the mid 70’s. He is most known for his sculptures and hanging mobiles, but he also made over 1,800 pieces of jewelry.
There are many similarities between Calder’s jewelry pieces and his art. He used basic, inexpensive materials, had a fascination with negative space, and used silver wire. Through his jewelry, which adorned the likes of Anjelica Huston, Peggy Guggenheim, and Georgia O’Keeffe, Calder gained a whole new luxury audience in the fashion world.
Calder first made jewelry at age 8. He made necklaces for his sister’s dolls, using beads and bits of copper electrical wire. The influence from his sculpture on his jewelry is evident. Both display an unmistakable sense of balance and energy. Calder’s craftsmanship is always visible. He never used solder in his jewelry pieces and instead linked them – just as he did with his sculptures – with rings and coils of wire, bent metal or rivets.
What I love about Calder’s art, both the sculptures and the jewelry pieces, is the whimsy. He took ordinary materials and combined his innate sense of design to upcycle them into wearable art.
About his work he said, “The underlying sense of form in my work has been the system of the Universe, or part thereof. For that is a rather large model to work from.”
That makes sense when I look at his hanging mobiles, paintings, and jewelry pieces. There is a kind of universal energy to them.
I am inspired by many pieces of Calder jewelry, in particular the one above, which was formed with hammered copper and beach glass. I decided to design a similar piece, upcycled from hammered copper and slices of dried acrylic paint.
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