Wearable Art

For Masooma Syed designing jewellery is an extension of art. So as she worked on her installations for the exhibition in Delhi,her hands often reached out to boxes filled with accessories. She picked a rubber band and knotted it to produce earrings; strands of paper pulp were woven together into a bracelet. The Delhi-based Pakistani artist ripped labels from garments and pasted them on hairclips and artificial hair was intertwined with metal wires to make an earpiece. “Most of it is impromptu. Designing jewellery allows a certain freedom,” said the Pakistani artist,as she greeted guests who trooped to Vadehra Bookstore in Defence Colony to give their verdict on her jewellery,priced between Rs 400 to 4,000. While the rather quirky designs impressed some,others opted to go more in-depth. An earpiece with an amulet as its base attracted attention due to the prayer written on it and Syed shared that another pair of earrings was made of porcupine quills that are “believed to ward off evil”. For the former faculty member in the jewellery design department at Beaconhouse National University,Lahore,this is her first jewellery exhibition in India,and she promises more.