DESIGN OVERVIEW

German Silver
Gold plated
Aluminium
Spray paint
Thread
Organza silk
© Hang Lee

JEWELRY DESIGNER

Taiwan-born jewelry artist Heng Lee juxtaposes traditional craft techniques and cutting-edge technology to explore the relationship between nature and Internet culture. Using downloaded images, laser-cut metal, and hand embroidery, he creates visually striking pieces that are both digital and tactile. In a time when much of our information comes from social media, his work interrogates the divide between experience and technology and encourages full awareness of the current moment.

Heng Lee Explains: \”I make jewelry as a winemaker, I catch my inspiration from nature and turn it into jewelry by my hand as a winemaker turn the grapes into wine\”.
HOW TO WEAR IT

In information rapidly transmitted 21st Century digital cameras and mobile phones preserve the beauty of nature. Digital photos pass around on the internet through Facebook and Google.

When we examine the landscape and creatures on the computer, we can see all the details by google search, but can’t be touch or feel how beautiful they are in real. That’s why he uses laser cutting which is used in industrial processes dealing with stainless
steel and combined with organic handed embroidery and beading to create the impact between technology and nature which correspond to the subject.
The series “Floral Print of Formosa” has chosen the unique local species which can simply symbolize the beauty of Taiwan. The pictures were at first downloaded from the internet and then meshed into digital grids by Photoshop. The artworks expressed the detail of nature like petals of flowers through Chinese traditional hand embroidery as Italian winemakers use traditional techniques to make good wine. The threads significantly weave out the technicolor of nature.

ADDED VALUE

The mix of the Taiwanese sensibility of Heng Lee with his western intellectuality is the result of this kind of jewelry design. We will never be tired of seeing how an artist can feel the world in any expression. In his words: “I am a Jewelry artist in Taiwan, I explain how the overexpress costumes and luxurious jewelry along with Eastern and Western history become the inspiration for my works. I present Chinese traditional craft as another inspiration of my collection and display how the surprising flame can be generated when traditional patterns cross upon contemporary jewelry”. “In my series of works, I enlarge the images as a decorative garments on the dresses or creatures of nature. Throughout the magnified image process, the pixels of the pattern also weakened, and the rest is similar to the mosaic image. As the image to magnify, the border out of focus, then hand-embroidery would be the highlight of all”. (From: @beautifulpeopleliveart). The term Pixel Art consists in construct pictures out of small colored units similar to the pixels of modern digital computing. Others would define Pixel Art as a form of digital art, created through the use of software, where images are edited on the pixel level. The majority of graphics for 8-bit and 16-bit computers and video game consoles, as well as other limited systems like graphing calculators, is pixel art. There are some similarities in technique and style between pixel art and older artistic movements like Impressionism, Abstract Art, and especially Cubism. But, how Hang Lee converts Pixel Art into jewelry? The pictures were at first downloaded from the internet and then meshed into digital grids by Photoshop. The artworks expressed the detail of nature like petals of flowers through Chinese traditional hand embroidery, as well as Italian winemakers, use traditional techniques to make good wine. The threads significantly weave out the technicolor of nature. Imagine which ones are the limits in jewelry design? NONE. It\’s less and less about diamonds, emeralds, and rubies.