Ali Vedad Yuner - US/Turkey
Ali Vedad Yuner
Designer biography:
Ali Vedad Yüner (he/him) is a Turkish-born jeweler and artist currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Charmed by the silvery facades of fish encountered on the Turkish coast, he found himself fascinated with metal. Along with a need for expression, and a dissatisfaction of design invoked through a brief stint in commercial jewelry, he ended up in RISD, graduating with an MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing. Maintaining an interest in aquatic life, he carves trees, bones, and biology into adornments of apotropaic power.
Collection concept
Unlike histories that are bent to authorities, jewelry is kept safe to the highest standards. This security from false narratives enables jewelry to exist as an object of faith. Within this context of faith into a larger existence, I am drawn to jewelry’s role in acknowledging human’s minuteness compared to the Earth. I desire to affirm that I coexist with the world, being brought up in an ecologically-estranged urban sprawl. Seeking extra-human connection, I research the interaction of jewelry with the ecosphere, where the act of wearing jewelry can signify an appreciation of non-human ecology. Colliding this research with heritage craft, “beings” that come alive once worn are created.
