Isha Elafi's designs are truly one-of-a-kind. A self-proclaimed "nomad" during her 20s, Isha started making jewelry to make ends meet.
Her craftsmanship is undeniably unique. Rather than work with common materials like silver and gold, Isha's pieces are constructed out of colorful threads intertwined with beads and semi-precious stones.
Isha's unusual approach to jewelry-making quickly gained her notoriety. And now, 25 years after she began Nomadic Knotwork, Isha works out of a beautiful home/studio in Bali, accompanied by three Balinese
women who assist with her eagerly sought-after creations.
Isha travels all over the world looking for inspiration and rare stones to incorporate into her pieces. "I think of it as modern tribal jewelry," she says. Most of the time she spends traveling throughout parts of Asia and South America. But each year she makes a quick but necessary stop through Tucson for its annual gem show.
You won't find Isha's designs in department stores or chain stores of any kind. Nor will you find Nomadic Knotwork written up or featured in any mainstream fashion and design magazines.
Isha prefers to sell only a few pieces at a time and only to select boutiques and stores, which specialize in rare trinkets and baubles. And since her creations are in fact art, she sells them to galleries all over the world, from Clouds Gallery in New York to Far Horizons Gallery in the U.K.
From the nomadic manner in which she buys her supplies to the nomadic distribution by which her pieces find boutiques and buyers around the world, her art certainly lives up to its name.
No comments:
Post a Comment