Mary Cameo Earrings in 18K Gold, Blue Chalcedony and Carnelian by Catherine Opie

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Mary Cameo Earrings in 18K Gold, Blue Chalcedony and Carnelian by Catherine Opie

About the Item

"Mary" cornelian shell Cameo earrings set in pink 18-karat gold with light blue chalcedony and carnelian stones by Catherine Opie. With Cameo, Lizworks founder Liz Swig takes on one of the oldest forms of portraiture, dating back to ancient Greece when the profiles of the Gods of Olympus were first carved in agate, and completely reimagines it through the vision of two of the most important contemporary artists working today. “The exploration of the cameo as a contemporary canvas brought me immediately to the work of Catherine Opie and Cindy Sherman,” Swig says. “To see their work three dimensionally carved and seductively sculpted in the tradition of the cameo is a complete thrill.” Opie’s intimate, highly-personal imagery explores universal themes of family and identity, while Sherman, who ignited an exuberant new body of work when she took her Instagram feed from private to public, invites us to consider the cameo as the original selfie. The formality of the cameo is both revered and turned on its head. The cameos are hand-carved in Italy in small editions under the vision a third-generation cameo maker in Torre del Greco, where shell cameos have been produced for centuries. Set in gold and ornately adorned, each individual cameo conjures up an entire world unto itself—mesmerizing, discrete, and complete. Catherine Opie is an American photographer who lives and works in Los Angeles. She is known for her powerfully dynamic photography that combines provocative content with formal virtuosity to examine the ideals and norms surrounding the culturally constructed American dream and American identity. “I’ve been interested in the history of portraiture since I began making images with a camera. While creating my recent body of work, Portraits and Landscapes, I envisioned some of the portraits on black backgrounds as ovals. I realized they became oversized Cameos. When Liz approached me, we began to discuss working on some jewelry pieces together and it felt like a natural progression to make some of my photographs into cameos. The artworks I selected are very personal to me and my connection to my family. In the process of making the photographs into three-dimensional objects, I thought of images that would be visually compelling, but also iconic works of mine as an artist. I’ve always been interested in the relationship to object making even within the photographic medium. A cameo is something that can be worn every day that doesn’t hang on a wall—the piece becomes more sculptural than a photograph with texture and dimension.”

Creator:
Catherine Opie (Artist),Liz Swig (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 1.9 in (4.83 cm)Width: 1.4 in (3.56 cm)Depth: 0.4 in (1.02 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 2
Materials and Techniques:
Carnelian,Gold,Shell,Hand-Carved,Hand-Crafted,Polished
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
2010-
Date of Manufacture:
2019
Production Type:
New & Custom(Limited Edition)
Estimated Production Time:
4-5 weeks
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU3621316141181