ARTIST OF THE MONTH-BDQ

ARTIST OF THE MONTH

Every month we introduce you to one of our consignment artists. There is no salt and pepper, we reveal the rawest story on our artists' creative journey. How they met and fell in love with jewellery? What inspired them and how? What was the making process like? What are the tips on being a successfully established jewellery artist? Visit our Facebook and Instagram pages to stay up to date on our latest collections. Go to INTERVIEW ARCHIVE to read more stories.

Artist of the Month (9): Bande des Quatres

October 24, 2017

The Origin Story

Janis and Erin are the mother-daughter duo behind Bande Des Quatres, a brand conceived on a family vacation while designing accessories for Erin to wear to her NYU senior thesis exhibition. Her outfit was Michael Jackson inspired and required statement jewellery to match her gold sequin pants - thus the Van der Rohe and Moholy-Nagy rings came to life! These rings each extend across four fingers, giving way to the name Bande Des Quatres, French for “Band of Four”. The floating illusion these rings created was always a conversation starter, pushing Erin to develop the brand and a debut collection, with Janis as the maker. Two masterminds, one vision!


The ring that started it all, the Van der Rohe - sterling silver, oxidized sterling silver.

Inspirations

Art and design are the biggest sources of inspiration for Bande Des Quatres. Janis and Erin draw from a wide variety of styles, periods and media - from photography to sculpture, painting, architecture, graphic and industrial design. As Georgia O’Keefe said, “colours and shapes make a more definite statement than words.” Taking her cue, BDQ celebrates the purely visual, relying on colours, shapes and lines to create their unique designs. From Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, BDQ draws from the philosophy of learning by experimentation, inviting their followers to wear these elements, this history and heritage on the body.

Every Bande Des Quatres piece is named after the artist or architect whose style inspired it:
Collection I, Bauhaus Masters
Collection II, Architects
Collection III, Abstract Photographers
Collection IV, Minimalist Artists
Collection V, Typography


Collection I: Bauhaus Masters - Stolzl ring


Collection III: Abstract Photographers - Harry ring


Collection IV: Minimalist Artists - Francois necklace


Collection V: Typography - Christian ring

Working Together
Each design is a collaboration: conceived by Erin and hand-crafted by her mother Janis. Erin describes working together as truly a gift - she is always full of ideas and Janis knows exactly how to translate them! Their design process begins by deciding on an art-based theme for a new collection, and from there they start putting pen to paper. The next step is to play a bit of dress up by using paper models to see how the new pieces could look when worn, and then the ideas are transformed to metal. Once each piece is finalized it is named based on the theme and the artist who inspired it.


Mariah earrings - sterling silver, oxidized sterling silver.

Functional Creativity

Bande Des Quatres celebrates illusion in adornment and redefines the conventions of traditional jewellery. The pieces are adaptable and functional - although initially developed for individuals with an interest in edgy art and fashion, many of the rings are also exceptionally comfortable on arthritic fingers! In this way there is something for everyone in BDQ jewellery.

Creating for BDQ is a time for the design duo to bring together their individual and joint art influences and blend them. Having lived together for 18 years, Janis and Erin have had the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of art, fashion and design and learn to communicate and translate elements that attract them without words. This is the wunderful benefit of being a mother-daughter team.


Hadid ring - sterling silver, oxidized sterling silver, 18k yellow gold, black diamonds.


Janis and Erin in the studio, always creating!

Thank you Bande des Quatres for your impressive work and joyful interview! For more examples of their work click here.

18Karat Studio+GalleryARTIST OF THE MONTH-BDQ