Rachel Ravitch
November 15, 2013

Rachel Ravitch’s instantly recognizable handmade jewelry is everywhere you look these days: gracing magazine and blog pages, dressing the windows of local boutiques, and adorning the bodies of some of Seattle’s most visible culture creatives. The appeal is undeniable. Trained as a visual artist and architectural designer, Ravitch skillfully transforms a range of natural materials—horsehair, silk, and leather—into a line of highly original wearable sculpture that is as lightweight and comfortable as it is striking.

For her exhibition at Vignettes, Ravitch is incorporating soft metallic goatskin and lambskin leather for the first time. Some of the styles will be familiar to those who follow her work, however the addition of reflective luminosity brings a new dimension of mythological drama to the designs. Knotted ropes become supple, intricately entangled serpents. Leather shapes become shields of soft armor. Enamel splatters transform a black field into a cosmos populated by constellations of bright stars.

Also present for the first time are leather handbags with metallic accents and jewelry incorporating rich black fur. All are works of functional luxury, designed for daily use under a variety of circumstances.