Artist Highlight: Kotoba Jewellery

Kotoba, a Japanese word for language and words. Kotoba Jewellery is made by Craft Ontario member Suki Hoi Yi Lai.

See more of Suki's work here, and at the Craft Ontario Shops!

Each piece of Kotoba Jewellery is handmade by you, from sketching to the final product. How does the handmade process contribute to the uniqueness and individuality of each piece?

I think the handmade process reflects the essence of time and touch that goes into making each piece. Even though they are made to look the same, not one piece is the same within the details. This is because each sanding/polishing process is done by hand, which means that there are subtle differences and marks left onto each piece.

You mention that jewellery is an everyday vehicle for self-expression. Are there specific themes or symbols you incorporate into your designs to facilitate personal expression?

There aren’t any specific themes or symbols I incorporate into my designs. Instead, I want to make sure that each piece of jewellery I create has a meaning or feeling or thought behind it, showing through the forms, because if a person is choosing to put my jewellery on their body, I want to elevate this choice into a conscious decision to express, feel, or remember something. For example, the concept behind my Dream Like Clouds pieces are made to celebrate small or big dreams. When the wearer makes the choice to wear these, I want to encourage them to remember their own dreams.

To me, even though this simple act of wearing jewellery might seem small and unnecessary, the choice of doing so reflects something bigger: it is one step and action that you took for yourself, your dream, or the person who you strive to become. I believe that eventually these small steps you take for yourself are what lead you to the path you aim to be on.

Each collection of Kotoba Jewellery has a story behind it. How do you develop these narratives, and how do they inform the design and creation of the pieces?

Kotoba is a Japanese word for words and language, and I think of my jewellery as my language; my way of expressing myself and sharing stories. These narratives come solely from my own experiences – from the nature I see, the people I meet, and the feelings I felt, these memories and moments become stories that I want to share. But instead of using words, I like to translate it into a piece of jewellery because when these stories become physical objects that I can touch and wear, it allows me to reflect and remember these moments better. I guess maybe because I also love photography, making jewellery is similar to me capturing a moment as a photograph. 

When it comes to choosing which narrative to develop into a piece of jewellery, I go through a specific process to narrow down the choices. Since I want to make jewellery that can connect, comfort, and empower others, I need to make sure that there is a deeper meaning driving the narrative for me within the work. 

For example, let’s say I saw some beautiful wildflowers on the side of the road. When drawing upon inspiration for a piece, I would not just make flowers because they look beautiful, but rather I would ask myself questions such as: what is something that I can learn or reflect on from seeing these flowers? Was it the act of pausing and noticing these flowers, the intricacy within these flowers that are unseen unless we slow down and look closely, or the fact that they are still blooming resiliently despite no one taking care of them? The stories that I choose to use for each collection have to be things that I can share my personal thoughts and reflections with, because if it is not important or valuable to me, then I cannot use it to connect with and empower others.

Are there challenges in materializing abstract ideas, and how do you overcome them?

The biggest challenge in materializing and translating these abstract ideas into jewellery forms is actually to remain honest in the creative process. Sometimes it is easy to just make the piece first and then tie a story onto the piece, but I try my best to avoid that because to me if the piece did not have a story or an idea first, then no matter what you say, there is a disconnection.

Before I work on any piece, I make sure that the idea or story is written out first. I would then start with two small blank pieces of paper in my sketchbook, and proceed to sketch whatever comes to mind, instead of sketching out actual jewellery forms. For example, if I'm working on a ring, I’ll start with shapes. I don’t erase anything - I let my mind and hands go with the flow. Afterwards, I’ll choose about three to five shapes that I feel most connected with, and transform those shapes into possible forms of jewellery. By starting the creative process with a concrete idea and story, I think any sketches and designs I come up with are results created subconsciously based on the idea. 

The second most challenging thing is to make the piece wearable and look good because if it is not wearable or comfortable to wear, it takes away my purpose of creating something that can be worn daily as self-expression. To overcome this challenge, I make sure to create something that I would want to wear myself. For example, I enjoy organic abstract forms and shapes with subtle hidden details. If I want to wear something like this, then I believe there are similar people out there that would enjoy these pieces!

See more of Suki's work here, and at the Craft Ontario Shops!