Wynn Wynn Ong's journey 'Within' at AC+632

MANILA, Philippines - Two years after her last show, Wynn Wynn Ong takes you on a visual journey of the jeweled form from the surface of a piece, to “Within.”   This exhibit, marking her 10th year as a jewelry designer, is the most technically challenging and intellectual one yet.  

Wynn Wynn continues her dialogue with familiar Philippine materials through new avenues of interpretation.   Discarded shells of common green-lipped mussels or tahong become minute tiles rippling like jade across the exterior of a chest.  Old kamagong is recut and replaned to metamorphose as a five-drawered backdrop for a “chase” between gem-speckled geckoes.  A copse of trees contains bejeweled denizens and hidden windows with secrets within.   In her world, the mundane takes on a transcendent form.

Consistent in her approach to creating jewelry through meticulous research and attention to detail, she has created a collection for the true collector — one that is populated by wondrous surprises.  Bound by a natural framework of precious and semi-precious gems — paired with recycled, reused, or sustainable materials — the jeweled form becomes the nucleus for the larger shape:  a cabinet, a handheld mirror, a walking stick. 

Lend me an ear: Equinox handsculpted drop earrings in vermeil set with tumbled turquoise, faceted carnelian beads and tumbled smoky quartz by Wynn Wynn Ong. Available at AC+632

This show also highlights Wynn Wynn’s continuing commitment to non-profit organizations.  After her decade-long formal volunteer service with Hands On Manila ended this year, she started working more closely with Brother Francis of Pangarap Foundation to train some of their young men and women.  They’re now part of her team.  She is also working with community-based organizations to create some pieces for future shows.  She hopes more entrepreneurs will tap into community-based resources for their business needs to help stimulate their micro-economies, and allow their success to take root and spread to others. She hopes that social entrepreneurship in the purest sense of the phrase will take root and companies will make changes from within and involve communities in creating sustainable business solutions.

“Within,” which runs from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2 at AC+632, second floor Gallery of Greenbelt 5, is presented by Greenbelt at Ayala Malls, in cooperation with Belvedere Vodka, Restaurante Pia y Damaso and Rupert Signs.

For inquiries, call AC+632 at 758-2564, SMS 0915-7859544 or e-mail ac632@pldtdsl.net.

Ear ye, ear ye!: Spessatite garnet earrings with brown tourmaline beads and tiger’s eye drops rest atop cabinet handles made of bulalo shank buffed to look like ivory.