Lola Brooks is an artist, metalsmith, clotheshorse, and sometimes writer who studied fashion at Pratt Institute but quickly found herself drawn to the metals studio and the possibilities that the intimate scale of jewelry presented. Deciding to pursue jewelry full-time, she earned her BFA in metals from SUNY New Paltz. Fascinated by jewelry as a cultural signifier, she is influenced by historical jewels, which were often imbued with meaning far beyond the mere physicality of the object.
She finds inspiration in the Victorian obsession with death and sentimentality, the Arts and Crafts movement, and the American art jewelry movement that followed World War II when artists resurrected an appreciation of the handmade and rejected principles of mass production. She is driven by her never-ending search for the rich variety of strange and beautiful materials she collects and her love of making beautiful things by hand.
Nicole Landaw
Nicole Landaw’s fine jewelry collection is seductive, modern and often challenges the expected. Her vibrant palate and combinations of shape and form exude a sophisticated, sculptural elegance. During the Covid-19 shutdown, Nicole revisited themes from her 2004 debut collection, connecting the through-line from her early work to her current aesthetic. She is delighted to feature a grouping of this recent work at Meeka.
She attends to every detail in the creation of her jewelry in a rural corner of New York’s Hudson Valley where she lives with her son and architect husband. When not at her jewelry bench, Nicole is an avid gardener, accomplished cook and flea market aficionado.