Dian Chen: combination of complex attitude and elegant vision

Dian CHEN graduated from MA Jewellery design at Central Saint Martins UAL, and now she is working as an independent jewellery artist in London and Beijing. She uses conceptual jewellery and other body-linked objects as her primary media. Materializing bold imaginations, Chen gives a thoughtful debate about the topics of feminism, identity, and gender. In 2017, Chen established her own brand - Ddesign in a vision of combing conceptual jewellery with business publicity.

The first collection is “Queer Beard”. This collection was inspired by visual symbols used in gender equality campaign movements, Chen starts this project of gender equality and LGBTQ rights jewellery intending to reflect the spirit of mutual respect, gender proudness, and support for equality.

Particularly she used LGBTQ symbols to mimic facial hairs/ braid in this collection, and hopefully, it will work as a humorous approach challenging rigid recognition of genders or gender stenotypes. The purpose of her design is to enable people who share the same beliefs in supporting LGBT rights campaigns can make a clear, delightful yet elegant voice by wearing her jewellery.

The second collection is “Cybog Rainbow”. Influenced by theorists like Rosi Braidotti and Donna, J, Haraway, she developed a deep interest in approaching gender identity issues through the concepts of the post-human, cyborg (cyber + organic), and science fictions to discuss the question of fluidity of gender and identity in post-human age.

Most importantly, this project is a participatory piece which basic frames and interchangeable spare-parts are manufactured using industrial materials, that allows the wearers to replace and even remake the jewellery using all those spare "chips and bars". In this process of self-controlled changing and overall infinity of possibilities, she tries to construct a fantasy of cyborg and post human future to break the perception traditionally of gender and identity.

Image Source: Dian Chen