“Nature is the best Artist”
Staking her claim yet again, as premiere nature jeweler, artist Kira Koktysh has installed the final link to the chain of her Botanical Metamorphosis series: First Seeds to Blooms, then Leaves and Fruits, and now—Mushrooms! The final link—Mushrooms: The Other Fruit—bridges the seasonal life-to-death motif.
Remarkably mysterious organisms, whose fungal compositions prove them to be most useful yet dangerous—mushroom fungi impact everyday our lives (beer, wine, bread, biofuels). Obtaining nutrients from both the living and the dead, these fungal trees of life function as both catalysts and barriers. Encapsulating the cold, dark wintery underworlds, they refract rainbows with umbrella-like hoods. They sheath the soil from flood, while intravenously translating news into winter bosoms, dying petals and swirl.
Using contemporary technology to bridge the appeal of costume pieces to fine jewelry, her Russian upbringing and fondness for nature inform her supreme handicraft. The mushroom collection was presented during February fashion week at Fashion Week Small Boutique, and at the recent International Alliance’s exhibition “Dialogs of Imagination”.
Kira employs seawater pearls, beetle necks, Swarovski crystals and more to embody the morphological diversity of various agaricomycetes. Svaroski laden porcini tips and domestic shiitakes dipped in glamorous substrates or crystalline mycelium—Mushrooms are sophisticated molecular machines. Instruments of infinity and decay, their varied genomes and complex lineages reflect a sublime ecological diversity.
Alongside each pair of earrings necklace or ring is an exquisite poem—or latticework of words, rhyme and rhythm—devised by New York based poetess, Natalia Newman. Having framed the last 8 collections of Kira’s collections, Natalia specifically comprises her verbal musings to match, compliment, celebrate the timeless art-pieces. Anchoring them into reality with poetic prayers and song, here are the final lines of her “Botanical Metamorphosis”:
“…Poised elegance and charm with no pretense,
In creatures neither animals nor plants,
The sculpted beauty with its crystal dew,
Made into jewels as a souvenir of forest
So I can treasure it and so can you.”
I’d certainly inhabit a decomposer’s enclave if I were a bug—wouldn’t you? Firm slithery nutritious stones, traced with velvety worlds and minerals alike—the uncanny prevails, as do whales’ underbelly of sea-mystery. This forgotten ‘other’ fruit, the mushroom, puts Botanical Metamorphosis jewelry collection into full resolution.
Spearheaded by Amethyst Delusion: From Seeds to Blooms, the exquisite colorist’s collection began with encrustations of amethysts; they sing a song of spring and new beginnings. The soothing purple stones’ balancing powers supply a delectable contrast against darker soil modules made from crystals and gems. Sprung forth from the soil of the earth, these infantile faces of youth and innocence bestow a freshness and curiosity for life. Seeds give way to rootlike rhizomorphs from which spring stems, leaves and buds.
Advancing an experiential outlook unto life is Kira’s Geodissimia: Leaves and Fruits stage of the metamorphosis. Fruitful geodes and flowers intonate a maturity of purpose and wisdom. Sugary fruit halves and crystal-laden curvaceous bodices ripen in honor of summer’s bounty. Subdued and earth-toned crystals and hues, stingray leather, gold chains and bold geological designs reflect awakened experience. Suggesting the introspective nature of yet another impending autumn as well as abysmal winter, this series demarcates life’s stage of blossoming and fulfillment.
It only makes sense that mushrooms abound in succession. What could possibly be next? Butterflies? Coral reefs? Wildlife? Stay tuned for more decorative emblems of nature.
