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Q: Where did you study Jewelry/Metalsmithing and where?
A: GIA Graduate Jeweler, 2016. Jewelry/Metalworking Occupational Skills Certification and A.A. Studio Arts degree from Pasadena City College, 2018. Currently, a senior BFA Metals and Marketing major at CSU Long Beach.
Q: What inspires your work?
A: The inspiration behind the timeless designs of my contemporary fine jewelry collection is meditated from abstract art, nature, ancient cultures, social cause, and the spirit of everyday people. Ultimately, resulting in a collection that merges art and consciousness to fashion.
Q: Do you have a favorite piece you've made?
| A: One of the proudest pieces of jewelry I have made would be the "Spider & Egg" kinetic ring/palm bracelet. It is more of an exhibition piece for art collectors, however it won me a lot of grants and awards which enabled me to start my business from the grassroots. |
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Q: What made you want to start making jewelry?
A: A huge chunk of my life had been focused on painting and acting before getting started in jewelry design. Since I do not come from a jewelry family, I began my journey understanding that I was going to carve my own path, eventually, leading to extraordinary events. In 2011, a chance meeting with a jeweler who taught me wire-wrapping technique was the beginning of my foray into jewelry as a contemporary art form. It was also crucial time where my battle with anxiety was all-consuming and realized I needed to heal from my past to find my purpose. During a four-year sabbatical, I dove deeply into silent meditation, which was when I rekindled my love for crystals, ultimately, discovering my passion for jewelry which had become a sanctuary of healing for me.
After a career transition, my jewelry brand TIN HAUS opened for business in 2016. Simultaneously, I enrolled back into college to deepen my understanding of the metal arts. During that time, a pendant I made of Bernie Sanders' silhouette caught the attention of Sanders' wife, Jane, who ultimately endorsed the necklace as part of raising funds for her husband's 2016 presidential campaign. Soon after, a partnership with Make A Film Foundation formed an avenue to create jewelry for Hollywood A-listers for the film, "The Black Ghiandola." Consequently, I made jewelry for industry leaders like directors Catherine Hardwicke, Sam Raimi, and Theodore Melfi; to actors Johnny Depp, J.K. Simmons, and Laura Dern, to name a few. Since then, my work has received national press and has appeared in magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Tatler. And most recently, I won the 2020 Halstead Grant, a highly respected nationwide competition for emerging jewelry designers. Conclusively, all the synchronistic events that have happened to date is confirmation I am living my life's purpose.
Q: What is your favorite process? Why that one over others?
A: My favorite process would be between traditional fabrication and lost wax casting. If I had to pick only one, I would pick lost wax casting simply because I do not do enough of it.
Q: Who is your favorite artist/who do you wear?
A: One of my favorite artists is Lee Bontecou, a sculpture artist and pioneer that redefined what it means to be a woman and artist.
Q: Is there an artist on your personal wishlist that you hope to own one day?
| A: Before I became an art jeweler, I was an abstract painter. I love the works of Salvador Dali, Alexander Calder, and Joan Miro. It would be a blessing to own a piece of artwork from any of them! |
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Q: What is something you would want someone to know about your work that they might not know?
A: I use the same process when I paint, as I do for creating jewelry.
Q: When you're not making jewelry, what are you doing?
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A: I love hiking. I hike as much as possible when I'm not making jewelry so I can be in touch with nature. |
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Q: What does sustainability mean to you/why is sustainability important to you?
A: Sustainability to me encompasses transparency, responsibility, and the awareness to provide our customers value without compromising the future of our next generation. One of our core missions from the beginning is sustainability that stems from recycling, and using recycled precious metals, as well as working with suppliers with standards that ensure gemstones were obtained without harming the environment, people and their communities. We use eco-conscious alternatives to the packaging of our jewelry, as well as taking the initiative to decrease our carbon footprint by making our signature collection handmade-to-order or in very small batches. The choices we make contribute to the bigger picture as everything is intimately connected. It is not about perfection; it is about progress. The more people participate, the greater the impact.
Q: What made you want to start a sustainable practice
A: My road to sustainability started in 2011, before jewelry, when I began to understand the implications of my daily habits; including learning from life experiences of living with those whose habits compromised the livelihood of those within the household. Cultivating an eco-conscious lifestyle not only contributes to the bigger picture, but it can also be a spiritual practice of cleansing and detoxification for a more balanced, happier, and healthier life. Therefore, when I founded TIN HAUS in 2016, it was only natural to establish a brand that reflected those values, and with a mission people can be proud of and stand by.
Q: How can the everyday person incorporate sustainable practices into their everyday life without getting overwhelmed or breaking the bank?
A: On the contrary, incorporating sustainable practices into people’s daily lives can help them save money by taking the steps to live more sustainably – from recycling and reducing energy consumption, to maintaining a predominantly vegetarian lifestyle. People can also reduce their carbon footprint by carpooling more and using public transportation.
As it relates to fashion, people can opt for second-hand or support small businesses with quality, fairtrade, and sustainability as their ethos. Ultimately, one would want to own pieces of jewelry or clothing that will last, thereby reducing over-consumption on a macro-level.
Q: What is a piece of advice that you want to give people that want to start living sustainably but are intimidated or think it’s too complicated?
A: I have a spiritual approach to sustainability. My advice to people who want to start living more sustainably is to take baby steps. It is not hard, but it is a mindset and lifestyle change. By nurturing a sustainable spirit – becoming more connected to oneself, to others, to animals, and to our environment – as a global community we can shift the momentum towards a more balanced and healthier future. Change starts within, so let your intuition be your guide to what is right and wrong.
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Christina Grace |
