Rian de Jong has been called a ‘Seawaterwanderbirdjeweller,’ (Catalogue). It is a word coined to describe her somewhat singular creative practice. De Jong crafts all of her jewelry aboard a ship in which she sails around the world, collecting materials for her jewelry work. Her travels have taken her everywhere from Thailand to Chile and many places in between. Her explorations of international coastlines inform her practice and her designs, often referred to as “moving, beautiful and intriguing works of art.” The materials she chooses include anything that piques her interest or catches her eye, and range from shells to the ropes used aboard the ship. A recent exhibition of her work at Gallery Loupe called Found at… Made in… featured her works alongside photographs of places she traveled and collected materials. She studied sculpture and jewelry under Marion Herbst and Joke Brakman at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie.
