“We find that these little rituals bring us ever so slightly closer together.”
How do you take your tea?
Tea is a daily driver in my life. During New York’s summer months, I’ll brew two cups of jasmine green tea in a mason jar before bed and refrigerate it to have over ice the next morning. I’ll take Iced tea over coffee any day of the week. In the evenings my wife and I will usually have some post dinner tea as well, preferably peppermint or lemon ginger. We find that these little rituals bring us ever so slightly closer together. We both take it the same way - no sugar, no milk. Straight, or on the rocks, depending on the weather.
Can you share your earliest memory of drinking tea and how it made you feel?
I’ve been drinking tea as long as I can remember. My mom is from Trinidad and Tobago, a former british colony, so she picked up this habit from her own childhood and upbringing. We always had a variety of tea in the house, from english breakfast to sleepy time. If I close my eyes I can still picture opening our tea drawer and being greeted by the classic sleepy time tea bear, snoozing away. Back then my sisters and I would pour sugar into our tea until it was syrupy and thick. Growing up in a sweets-less household, this was our one trick to bypass our parental controls.
Is there a particular tea or tea moment that holds special meaning for you? Why?
When I was maybe ten I remember traveling to london with my mom to visit family. After landing at heathrow and catching a cab to our hotel, we were greeted by two porcelain cups, a mountain of white and brown sugar cubes, and a collection of tea sachets. I can still picture the two of us in that hotel room. Me, reading twenty thousand leagues under the sea and sipping on chamomile, and my mom drinking the forbidden (caffeinated) english breakfast while thumbing through her ipod classic. Tea brought us closer together and made the quiet pauses between moments special.
If you could share a cup of tea with anyone—past, present, or fictional—who would it be, and why?
I never had the opportunity to meet my mother’s parents. They lived in a completely different time and place, and I’ve always been curious about how they moved through the world. Stories certainly shed some light on this, but oftentimes words can’t accurately paint the expressions a person makes, or how they respond to questions or situations. Would I see a rippled reflection of myself in them as I see with my parents, or a completely different person looking back at me? How would they greet me? Would their gaze be harsh or warm? These subtle traits are what most interest me.
When did you first get into making jewelry, and what drew you to it?
I think deep down we’re all drawn to shiny things. Throughout history we’ve coveted gold and jewels, today our phones and devices conjure up dazzling images that scratch this same itch for a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately, the prohibitive cost of its materials makes jewelry an inaccessible craft for the young, so it wasn’t until my 20’s that I had the ability to really take an academic interest in it. My parents definitely were not going to endorse or subsidize art school, although I did manage to sneak a few art classes in during college between core curriculum. When I saw my chance to pursue it, I jumped in head first, and the rest is history.
How would you describe your design style (with regards to jewelry)?
My mom likes to say that every piece I create is influenced by jewelry she wore during my childhood, and she’s not wrong. But those early memories are interwoven with a wider range of inspiration. In college, my studies in Egyptian Archaeology, Greek Mythology, South American History, and International Architecture left a lasting imprint on my imagination. I like to think that my work lives at the intersection of these worlds, where the memory of my mother’s jewelry meets the subjects and topics I find myself continuously drawn to. This, plus the work my friends are making leave me with no shortage of inspiration.
Is there anyone working in this space who you admire, who you wish more people knew about?
This is tough! Finding jewelry in New York is easy, but finding good jewelry made by hand is super difficult. Some folks that break the mold that I really admire are Kristen Chiu (@thingamajig_objects) and Belle Krol (@by.belenkrol). Every piece they make has a story, and you can really feel their presence in their craft. Plus their prices are not bad! Oftentimes when you buy “name brand” jewelry, you are paying a crazy premium for the brand recognition. If you buy your jewelry from a smaller craftsman, you’re not only getting a better deal, you’re supporting a person that really loves what they do, not a corporation trying to grow their bottom line. Shop people, not brands!
