M elka-Teichroew’s
pink “ pearls” and
pendant update
classic jew elry styles.
nylon pow der into rings, ban-
gles and, most dramatically,
necklaces—Jointed Jewels.
T h e laser fuses select areas
w ithin layers o f powdered ny-
lon, leaving a blanket o f powder
around the object that must be
tumbled out after the piece as-
sumes its final form . T h e pro-
cess allows the artist to create,
(or “print,” the SL S term o f art)
in three dimensions, fabricating
beads w ith non-contiguous sur-
faces; for exam ple, a sphere that
rotates freely inside the semi-
spherical joint around it.
T h e Jew els resemble pop
beads that can’t pop all the w ay
out; the virtue is that the beads
can be designed in a plethora o f
kinetic forms that allows even
the most elaborately latticed or
perforated pieces to drape natu-
rally over the chest.
Trained at the D esign A cad-
em y Eindhoven, M elka-Teich-
roew plays not just w ith shape
and scale but gradients o f color:
O ne strand, for exam ple, is a
Bubblicious spectrum o f pinks.
H er JointedJewels, inspired
by but updating traditional
designs, prove again that a
rose is a rose is a rose—even in
powdered nylon.
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byam t.com
CUT EMERALDS, IMPOSSIBLY
large diamonds, pearls o f unusual
size, chandelier-like Victorian
pendants and tiered Bulgari-style
chokers fill a vitrine still exhaling
fine vestiges o f the white nylon
powder and pigments from which
they are made.
N ylon? Pow der? Pigments?
T he Netherlands-born,
Brooklyn-based Alissia M elka-
T eich roew has taken advantage
o f Selective Laser Sintering
technology—used in the auto
industry and by architects and
furniture and product design-
ers—to create jew elry based
on the ball joint, a part typic-
ally found in cars and hip
replacements.
Ball joints are usually as-
sembled from multiple com po-
nents. But M elka-Teichroew , a
product designer, em ploys SLS
to make a movable ball-within-
a-ball; she uses a high-power
laser to fuse small particles o f
