Finger nails rings by Lihle

Fingernail rings. 

Wire rings and coffin fingernail ring.

In my jewellery, I was inspired by Park Eun-Kyung who is a South Korean nail artist. She is most known for starting the trends of shattered glass manicure. My aim is to make fingernails wrings attach with nail shape whereas Park uses silver wire, gold wire and steel wire to make manicure rings. In my work what I will do it differently is that I will be adding colour, nail art and texture. Whereas Park uses plain wire and crystals. Fingernail rings are more suitable for women who don't like artificial nails and for the woman who likes jewellery.

Functions of jewellery.

The essay by Bruce Metcalf (On The Nature of Jewellery) talks about three functions of jewellery, Indicate of status, redeemable wealth and spiritual mediation. Looking at the jewellery that I'm busy making and exploring, they all fall in these categories.

I'm exploring the beauty of nail art by changing plastic rings into fingernail rings. I'm trying to accommodate all females status by making temporary nails for them. Not everyone is allowed to apply nail polish, especially nurse, doctors and chef their position of status at work doesn't allow them, but for me making these temporary nail fingers will accommodate them.

As it says on Bruce Metcalf essay;(“To the contemporary practitioner, the past can be a rich and valuable resource, as well as an inspiration”). Looking at the jewellery that was made in the old century only rich people who can afford to buy them because they used precious material and they value the jewellery piece. Every jewellery piece has a story. For me, if I design I look at the things that inspire my client before I make the jewellery. The contemporary jewellery that I made for my Platinum piece in (Fig1) it is more redeemable wealth because I used a lot of platinum with rare stone which is a Tanzanite.

Figure1-Sish, T(2020). Divo tie pin.

The jewellery im busy making it's not more focused on spiritual mediation, but as was busy going through research about nails I noticed that Muslim women are not allowed to have nails on, because when they pray they have to put they maker first(God).They only allowed having a mehndi design on their hands. Traditionally there are girls who can't live without artificial nails and they go crazy if their nails are not done. For me making these fingernails can accommodate every woman because the rings that I'm busy making in metal it's easy to take them off whereas the permanent nails you have to wait for days before you take them off. 

Nails petals

I made earrings by using long square transparent nails and silver jump rings. 

Figure 1-Sishi, L,.(2020). Clear plastic nails.

On the picture below, I decided to add two shades of colour; because in the figure, you could not tell how many nails petals are there. I used rose-red and ruby-red acrylic gel colour. I didn't put colour on all the nails. I any left two transparent nails, because I wanted to put different colours.

Figure 2- Sishi, L,.(2020). Clear plastic nails with gel.

Transforming nails into jewellery form.

I was trying to make different types of jewellery form by using plastic nails. I use the original shape of the nail by putting nails together in different size and different position. I decided to use plastic nails because I wanted to do something different by using nails petals shape. In figure 1, it's a picture with plastic nails in different sizes. I used purple professional square nail tips. Whereas in figure2, I started putting 4 nails together and I end up making a pendant. I keep on pitting nails in different positions, as you can see on figure3, I used jump rings to join my jewellery form. I ended up transforming my pendant into an earring, as you can see in the last picture in figure 4. As I'm looking into nails at the moment, my aim is to use the nails shapes and transform them in too jewellery forms.

Figure 1- Sishi, L,.(2020). Square nails.

Figure 2-Sishi, L,.(2020). Pendant made up of with 4 square nails.

Figure 3- Sishi, L.,(2020). Pendant made up of nails.

Figure 4- Sishi, L.,(2020). Nails into an earring.

Favorite piece from 2019

sterling silver and cubic zircon - the process

Sterling silver, gel and crystals - completed

These are pictures of my previous work from the 2019 2thuka project. I decided to design a set of rings with nails attached because when I was a child I used to put nail polish on my barbe dolls. Designing nails is my passion and its something that I still do today but with gel, acrylic and no longer nail polish.