The "New Orleans" Collection is inspired by the typeface from an 1800s survey map by the Sanborn company. Each major city in the United States had a survey of the built environment performed which indicated the material the buildings were constructed from and what commercial buildings occupied the space. Each city had a different typeface. The New Orleans map has such a beautifully lyrical quality that is true to the city’s charm. The first cuff in the initial image is the copper cuff.
Artist + Brandi Couvillion
Follow this artistHailing from New Orleans, Brandi is inspired by the urban environment around her, the various states of its metamorphosis and decay, and its relationship with the ever-evolving natural landscape.
Her jewelry work and accessories are inspired by architectural details such as decorative wrought iron and plasterwork, as well as historic maps and imagery—some dating from as early as the 1700s culled from archives—and make permanent an ephemeral aspect of our cities’ histories.
Her adornment captures the transitory landscapes of history: from trade routes and forgotten swamps to abandoned asylums whose architectural residue still decorates the landscape today.
From raw sheets of metal, her work transforms into wearable archives in suspension through an intensive, handcrafted process that involves heat image transfers, various etchants, soldering, gilding, patinas and polishes, and hammer forming. The process and the final product aspire to create civic dialogue about an embedded history, and the ebbs and flows of social and physical community infrastructure.
Ultimately, Brandi Couvillion's work blurs the lines between the past and the present weaving the poetics of place with the fabric of time.
Brandi currently maintains studio spaces in New Orleans, Washington, DC, and a shop in Alexandria, Virginia.
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