 |  | Alexa McCarry combines clear resin and complex optical patterns to play with light and to create an amazing illusion of movement in her jewellery, which reflects and refracts light as it’s worn.
Influenced by the Op Art movement by the 1960s, her pieces combine a retro and futuristic appeal.
Have a look at some of Alexa’s wonderful pieces by clicking on the images button below. Find out more and hear from the artist in the text that follows.
Layers of fascination
Alexa describes her passion for making: “I have a fascination with layering different complex optical art patterns over each other. For example, my bangle designs feature a single op art design on each piece, allowing the wearer to decide on the final effect by layering different bangles over one another.
“My black and white rings work with the idea of light refraction, while my yellow rings sit over the knuckles, displaying the optical design like a peacock displays its feathers.”
Printing and polishing
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Making these pieces involves a lot of work, as Alexa explains: “This illusion is created by printing onto a sheet of perspex and then trapping it inside resin, before creating facets or curves and polishing it up to a high shine. The illusion in my black and white rings can be seen from many angles, providing the wearer with countless intriguing views of the piece.
“My jewellery pieces are larger than usual, partly to display the optical illusion more predominantly, but also to challenge people’s preconceptions of how large jewellery objects can be.
“I take this into consideration in my range of tall green rings, a set of five rings starting at 5cm tall and gradually working up to the tallest, at 15cm tall. This is so that people can choose a ring depending on kind of scale they can take. For instance, some people go day-to-day wearing huge decorated fingernails, so why not huge decorative rings?
Inspired design
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Alexa adds: “My inspiration comes from optical art patterns derived from Bridget Riley’s famous designs, fashion, and graphic design, including that of the Bauhaus period.
“My motives are also due to my personal opinion that if jewellery isn’t instantly noticeable, why wear it? These are questions that have driven me to create my larger-than-usual pieces and to provide a reason - via the striking patterns - for people to look at them.”
Get your hands on them
Contact the artist to find out about purchasing or commissioning jewellery by following the email link on the left.
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