HAVE FUN AND GREAT TIME, FULL OF JOY AND CELEBRATION WITH YOUR BELOVED ONES!
It is that time of the year! The favorite holiday season of many is upon us and we have put together our annual Dark Edit to commensurate the occasion. Take a look!
I have reached the point in my career where I have built the signature style and developed my own key design elements that define me as a designer and a brand. Like sand in a desert, my work has also shifted and transformed over time as I keep re-working and re-shaping mediums into something new and adapting the core components of my work to my clients’ lifestyles and my own moods. Because of the techniques that I employ, each piece has its own distinct characteristics. My practice evolves, seldom repeating.
The meticulously chosen materials I work with make a great influence on the final look of each piece and although I have worked with colored gemstones in the past, recently I have created a more significant gemstone work and entered another realm of this practice. See it for yourself.
Over the past several months, what was once a solitary or singular engagement with talismans has multiplied through reciprocities of conversations, care and generosity of close friends and loyal patrons. These heartfelt, inspiring exchanges guided me in the most organic way possible to create this talismanic coinage.
Though these creations may not immediately align with the strict definition of a talisman, they, with their shared emphasis on and potent of love, are just as magical and powerful to me and conceivably more so to the individuals who have commissioned me to create these works.
Jelena Behrend, Vaginal Davis Presidential Gavel, 2020. [DESCRIPTION: A gif of four images of a gavel, shown from each three-quarter view in clockwise succession. The gavel has a dark brown wood handle with gold head, onto which four horizontal bands are engraved, as well as the the words "SPEAKING FROM THE DIAPHRAGM" horizontally engraved in serif text beneath the lowest band.]
I am no stranger to making jewelry for men. My work was always meant to be worn by all. Myself, a fan of men's garments, I always tried to fill in the fashion gap between genders. Let's be honest, only recently fashion designers started paying attention to "masculine" fashion and creative, innovative, fashion conscious men or men with a strong sense of style do not have to suffer for a lack of wardrobe and accessory choice anymore.
In my experience, men tend to choose less embellished jewelry, pieces that are perceived as simple and understated. By creating men's engagement ring* collection, I portrayed gold and precious stones in a masculine way. The designs (except the ring I custom made for Paul) are focused on the metal itself, its texture, luster, strength, and durability. The gemstones are incorporated to transform a particular ring into a celebratory piece, but without being overly flashy. Rings in this collection are designed and meant to be worn every day, as a powerful representation of commitment and love.
Collection is an edit of Jelena's signature charms, classic and new, embellished using forging techniques and precious stones.
"GANGITANO: ...There’s a general misperception that your work tends to be observational or voyeuristic and that it comes directly out of your own life."
Recently Jelena sat down with London based writer Melanie Abrams to discuss how jewelry is crossing the gender barrier. Here is the excerpt from the article published by New York Times on November 21, 2017.
