Juxtaposed: Bauhaus Shamaness

All photography by Nyla Sammons Photography and Illustration by Slowly the Eggs

A triptych of photographs entitled ‘Shamaness’ landed in my inbox and I liked them straight away. The accompanying text explained that the shoot was a playful idea surrounding the ‘feminine and our planet’ often found in Shamanistic traditions. This was a great juxtaposition of ancient ideas in a current setting with a tea stirrer/plastic roller/ shower cap working well to create a modern, mystical feel.

All the jewellery and props were provided by Plastic Seconds’ Maria Papadimitriou who informed me that she was initially inspired to create this jewellery when she stumbled upon a box of brightly coloured bottle tops that could not be recycled. ‘One mans rubbish…’ as the saying goes! She is now working on bigger commissioned pieces.

Plastic Seconds follows in the famous Bauhaus footsteps of Anni Albers, who was inspired to create a collection of jewellery made solely from household objects such as paperclips, metal sieves, wine corks and hair pins. Anni Albers was renowned for her print and textiles work but also for the jewellery she created from said household objects. She was initially inspired by the jewellery of Mount Albán the ancient Mayan city in Mexico whom coincidently believed heavily in shamanism. That this collection inspired Albers because of the Juxtoposition of precious jewels with non precious materials served only to increase the relevance for our November theme.

If you are interested in finding out more about Anni Albers and are in New York over the next year then definitely visit the Designing Modern Women 1890-1990 exhibition at MOMA,where along with works from Albers you will also find 1960s psychedelic posters by Bonnie Maclean and furniture and designs by Lilly Reich, Eileen Gray, Eva Zeisel, Ray Eames, Lella Vignelli, and Denise Scott Brown.

Maria is also an illustrator and works under the title ‘Slowly the Eggs’. Again having seen her work and being particularly taken with an illustration she did of Fred Butler I commissioned her to illustrate the photographs so we could have the juxtaposition between photograph and illustration, the results are beautiful.

Enjoy!