Paper Jewelry by Tia Kramer

Tia Kramer: Damsel bracelet (Sterling and Handmade Paper) and color samples

The story behind Tia Kramer‘s paper jewelry is intriguing. Defining herself as a “multi-media, installation, sound, and adornment artist” her jewelry emerged directly from experiments with sulpture. When Tia was comissioned to create two huge, free-hanging sculptures in 2003 she decided to work with handmade paper.

Small-scale samples to see how light would filter through the paper and details of Tia Kramer’s finished installation “Suspended Flight” (2003/2004)

While working on the large commisson Tia made a lot of small samples to see how light would filter through the paper. Again this is a main point of working with paper: how it transforms the qualities of light and how it actually changes when the light changes (remember the blog article about the origami lampshades by Studio Snowpuppe – it was also a main concern there). Even though Tia’s first jewelry objects were basically by-products of her larger commission she stays true to herself and still treats them like little sculptures: “Inspired by our relationships to the natural and architectural environment, I create jewelry objects that make visible our interactions with structure and movement. My adornments are performative sculptures for one’s ears, architecture for the body.”

There is a lot to discover on Tia’s website and the range of colors her pieces come in is amazing. You can even order a custom design in case you’re looking for something very special.