Vera pendant with pink tourmalines and diamonds in rose and white gold, Kristine Dee

Beyond retro-futurist inspirations, the futurism of the three jewelry artists in the ongoing Firma exhibit, Triad: An Approach to Futurism, is an extrapolation of the mind to “create concepts of external objects not present to the senses.” Kristine Dee, Michelline Syjuco and Paul Syjuco pay tribute to the spirit of creativity and resourcefulness that is at the core of every invention and design innovation.

The fantasies of industrial designer and jewelry artist Kristine Dee are images of a parallel universe from films like Star Wars Episode 2 and Aeon Flux, which influenced her latest body of work. “Combining these with the future’s longing for peace and serenity, I am able to come up with pieces that are current, yet timeless in appeal. They allow the viewer to experience a feeling of lightness.”  Dee, who obtained her Master’s Degree in Industrial Design from The Pratt Institute in New York and studied Scandinavian furniture design at the Denmark Design School in Copenhagen, has had her works exhibited at the famed Manhattan Center in New York and at the Salone International Del Mobile International Furniture Fair in Milan. Her designs for the New York-based design consultancy firm, Prime Studio, have been used by, among others, Banana Republic, Polder, M&M’s, and The MoMa Store.

The youngest of the three exhibitors, Michelline Syjuco is definitely one of the most daring and avant-garde of our current crop of jewelry designers.  The daughter of famed experimentalists Cesare and Jean Marie Syjuco, she learned to sculpt at an early age, and still considers her quirky work to be “wearable sculptures.”  Her unusual choice of materials and textures have been known to include cultivated rust, gnarly pearls, pointed steel studs, crushed tin cans, deep acetylene burns, bullet shells, and strange rocks from outer space.

Definitely bordering on the blasphemous and edgy, Syjuco’s take on futurism is more Flash Gordon than George Lucas, more sword and sorcery than outer space. “This is the staple I grew up with. Mad Max and Beastmaster were very important to me,” she says.

Michelline’s first one man exhibition, “Armadillon,” was a finalist in this year’s Ateneo Art Awards – a first for local jewelry design. “The jewelry I make is one of a kind. It’s a piece of my brain. I suppose it’s a little more expensive because of that.”

Paul Syjuco was exposed at an early age to jewelry designing through his family’s business. He is a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America, and has received training in pearl grading. He contributes articles on gem and jewelry matters  to some of Manila’s most widely circulated fashion magazines and occasionally holds lectures and workshops on jewelry design. Paul’s current venture is AUM JEWELS, a concept jewelry store located in TriNoma.

Paul Syjuco’s futuristic inspiration comes from science fiction films such as War of the Worlds, Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow, as well as computers and their internal components such as motherboards, microchips and schematics. “My general outlook as a designer is in line with the values of futurism and what it stands for. I tried to incorporate some soul into deep space elements like orbits and nebulae, interplaying some pieces with jade Buddha carvings.”

Firma design store is at the ground floor, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City.