Baby Boy brooch

Baby Boy explores the tension between traditional craft and material experimentation. Created as part of my PhD research and the "Born-Digitals" series, this brooch predates my use of digital tools — but anticipates them in its synthetic language and modular structure.

At the core of the piece lies a block of hand-carved ebony, concealed beneath a surface of soft blue velvet. The natural density of wood meets the synthetic softness of velvet, creating a duality of warmth and artificiality. A flexible rubber insert, cast and hand-polished to a frosted finish, snaps in and out of the wooden frame — an invitation to touch, to manipulate, to explore.

Baby Boy was exhibited internationally in Germany, Brazil, Estonia, and Belgium. It stands as a transitional object — caught between traditions of adornment and emerging digital aesthetics, yet still fully handmade.

Ebony wood, nylon flock, flexible rubber, sterling silver, steel pin
2016
One-of-a-kind piece