Neha Dani: an artist who delights in the details
Neha Dani’s artistic expression as a jeweler conveys unique emotions and experiences, cast in precious metals. Her work extrapolates traditional jewelry in process and purpose. As an artist, she creates jewels that go far beyond the celebration of love or special occasions - Neha’s jewels are occasions by themselves.
Her creative process begins with a personal exploration of form, volume, light and movement, often captured through photography. Certain inspirations, including dried leaves, flower petals and tidal waves, as well as colorful urban landscapes show up again and again, in different, brilliant variations.
Neha’s artistic process evolves with the creation of a wax sculpture, a real life-size model of each jewel carved with her own hands using soft wax or clay, molded until she is satisfied with volume, texture and movement, and the minutest details, a process that can last many months. This sculpting phase allows each design to organically develop in multiple layers and undulating forms, in 360 degrees. Each piece earns its own character, spirit and is born with a story to tell.
In the next stage, master craftsmen use this wax model to create a jewel in gold or titanium, which, in itself, presents additional challenges. Certain designs are set to be made in gold, softer and malleable, precious and traditional. Others require use of the much more challenging and extremely light titanium, a complex metal that can be anodized in incredible colors rhodium-colored and encrusted with the most exquisite diamonds or colored gemstones, ethically sourced and handpicked by Neha herself, resulting in voluminous, tridimensional jeweled sculptures. The work is extremely detailed, and the crafting process is carried out under high magnification.
Success in this phase results from a combination of ideal form and perfect engineering. Each piece often need to be broken down into several parts and then articulated to ensure comfort, movement and a surprising view from all angles. Each Neha Dani jewel requires on average of 6 months of highly skilled work that can only be performed by less than a handful of craftsmen in the world.
Neha Dani: a short biography
Neha Dani was born to a traditional Indian family settled in the town of Coimbatore, in the southern part of India. The younger of two daughters, she was raised to believe she could do anything boys could. They travelled, visited world class museums and were exposed to different cultures, yet, despite the progressive upbringing, Neha was expected to follow Indian tradition: finish college and start a family, instead of pursuing a career. Young Neha surprised everyone when she expressed interest in studying gemology, and applied to attend classes at the Gemological Institute of America, in Southern California.
Her mentors unraveled talent and passion, and years of imbibing fine art started showing in her work. After graduating from GIA, she went on to become a fellow of the Gemological Association of England, then returned to India to join IGI at their new Mumbai laboratory. Soon after, she began creating one of a kind pieces with fine gems and diamonds, and held several successful solo shows across India. In 2014, encouraged by the response from her collectors, and international media acclaim, she presented a series of unique pieces in the United States, at the JCK show, where her rebel spirit and experimental style with metals and colors earned her the distinct “Rising Star” Award, and the global attention of prestigious media titles such as Vogue, VO+, Women’s Wear Daily and the New York Times.
In 2017, Neha Dani was also profiled in Juliet Weir de la Rochefoucauld’s book “Women Jewellery Designers”, along with famous and influential names in contemporary luxury design such as Victoire de Castellane, Coco Chanel and Paloma Picasso.
For more information please contact Linda Buckley PR: linda@lindabuckleypr.com