THE BALLAD OF EAST AND WEST
While Feng.j might love to wander around her adopted city’s Jardin des Tuileries in quiet contemplation, its blooms bear only mild resemblance to her hyperreal gem-encrusted floral creations, learns melissa pearce
china-born jeweller Feng.j has been shuttling between studios in Shanghai and Paris since establishing her eponymous label in 2016. The latter is the seat of her young jewellery house’s dexterity, where each piece is created with consummate precision by some of the city’s best artisans. Serendipity, in the form of an introduction by an esteemed colleague, led her to her chief craftsman: A respected master who had settled into an atelier within a classic Haussmann building near Place Vendôme as a young man.
Binding to this fine foundation is the 32-year-old’s astute design eye accrued during her time at the London College of Fashion (University of the Arts London), where she pursued a master’s in jewellery design; when she was an assistant jewellery and accessories designer at Alexander Mcqueen; acquiring her GIA/GG certificate from the Gemological Institute of America, as well as stints at the Gübelin Academy in Switzerland.
More than one European underpinning of her approach is clearly evident but the Chinese aesthetic also weaves itself among the inspirations and photos on her studio walls. Her home territory was the first to notice her talent in 2015, when a piece of Feng.j jewellery achieved the record for highest sales by a Chinese jewellery designer in the history of Poly Auction (Hong Kong).
Jade — such as the carved icy crystal variety in her Floral Fairy ring, glistening like stiff egg white peaks — remains her favourite material. “In China we believe jade is connected to its wearer; it will influence the person who wears it. I love icy crystal jade, it’s the stone with life, it’s so profound,” she explains.
Chinese literature, drama and art (such as Chinese water-ink painting) influence her work. Her great-grandfather was a famous court painter during the Qing dynasty; she honours him by using his original heirloom seal on her sketches. “As a descendant of a family of art lovers, my design philosophy is that creating jewellery is like painting with gemstones. I think somehow, in an interesting or poetic way, I can be seen to echo [the brushstrokes of] my ancestor.”
While her Chinese heritage defines her creativity, her boldness in construction and concept is strongly Western. She acknowledges London’s imprint as vital in shaping this ambitious trait: “I learnt to think creatively during my time at the London College of Fashion, where I tried my best to make every idea jump out of the box. At Alexander Mcqueen, I was encouraged to explore wider, to push myself past the boundaries and believe anything is possible. I think I still have that goal in my mind. It’s a lifelong mark.”
British contemporary sculptures by Tony Cragg and Anish Kapoor inform her personal art interests. Her most recent purchase was by Aranda\lasch, namely the American artists Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch behind the New York-based architectural design studio. The piece, Camouflage, is a modular 20-ft-long corrugated, mirror-finished, stainless steel screen wall that distorts, displaces and animates reflections on its surfaces and the openings cut into it. Her confidence with colour is accompanied by an admiration for JAR, the master jeweller who chose to make his name in the City of Light despite being from afar. Every project Feng undertakes
all-consuming and her most is complex creation is her latest La Orchidée Pink high jewellery set, where carved jade, fancycoloured sapphires, diamonds and titanium culminate in a vibrant symphony. With an intricate structure that features components worked on by her entire team of French craftsmen for more than 1,000 hours, she describes it as “outstanding”.
Feng has a particular fervour for the orchid because it looks like a butterfly, which explains why this flower motif is found in many of her creations. Her latest discourse on orchids has been long-awaited but the challenge has brought its personal rewards: “I want to create artistic jewellery pieces that shape my style uniquely and can last for ages. To do so deserves all my efforts.”
Wherever she finds herself, beauty and spontaneous inspiration are within easy reach. In Paris, she loves picking out flowers for her home or studio at the Marché aux Fleurs near Notre Dame. Back in Shanghai, she enjoys strolling through the former French Concession, with its tree-shaded avenues and preserved mansions once peopled with the French community who resided there from the mid-19th century until 1943. But for now, the famous velvety blanket of blue-black over Paris is the rich backdrop for her diamantine midnight flowers. “The city of Paris itself is a beauty, so anyone here would be touched by her. It’s in the air, it’s wordless.”