Handmade electroformed statement jewelry by metalworking artist Bethany Shorb. An amalgamation of art. alchemy. myth. + science. We blend artifact, specimen, past, and future. 

In Japanese folklore, tsukumogami 付喪神 are tools over 99 years old that have acquired a spirit, or kami. We believe all objects and materials, especially those that have attained great age, are imbued with their own life force. We make objects that revere such tradition.

Electroforming is not a new technology, rather one that has great historic significance in manufacturing. 19th century scientists Edison and Faraday used electroforming in their work. 

Electroforming applied to jewelry-making is a long, intricate process of fusing metal onto another medium using a low voltage electrical charge. Coated with a conductive medium, the jewelry-to-be is suspended in an electrolytic solution comprised of an acid bath and copper sulfate. After days of moving copper ions onto the organic piece, it is removed from the bath, going on to polish, patina, and sealing processes. The original organic material remains encased in its new copper exoskeleton. 

Electroforming results are unique to each specimen and will never be identical, even when crafted under what seems to be the same conditions. This nuance and variation is a characteristic of the singular piece and process.

See something sold out you must have? Please contact us. We absolutely can make something very similar or in the size you need.