▲ Clucia Gems / CEO Myung soon Kwak

“Natural colored gems infuse life and vitality into the unity of heaven and earth”

Fine art jewelry encounters with works of art

Living things in nature are influenced by cosmic energy. When everything is in harmony and the cycles are natural, they tend to live longer due to their vitality. Some people enjoy traveling, walking, and climbing mountains as a way to soak up the beauty of nature and feel energized.

Just like the microcurrents that flow through our bodies to improve circulation, there are pieces of jewelry that can make us feel more like ourselves. Such is the case with the jewelry created by Clucia Gems CEO Myung soon  Kwak. She wants to invite you to enter a world of harmony where living creatures flying in the sky meet natural gemstones with a long history in the earth.

Clucia Gems has grown into a jewelry brand that is loved for its timeless beauty and timeless appeal. “Just as different people have different tastes and preferences, and different jewelry matches their birthstones, we express harmonious beauty through storytelling,” says CEO Kwak, with a passion and heart for life.

In her early years, she felt a sense of pride in creating something new with different materials, such as wood, wax, or plaster. As a metalsmith in college, she worked with a variety of materials and was naturally drawn to jewelry design in graduate school.

As a jewelry designer and artisan, she is unique in her choice of materials. Materials are important for a reason. She says “Jewelry art is not painted with oils, acrylics, etc. like painting. I choose natural gemstones with patterns, such as jade for good energy, lapis lazuli, the gemstone of the gods, and rubies for warding off evil spirits, and I cut and chisel them to create new pieces.” She also plays with materials, using different colors of gemstones in different shapes. 

 

A butterfly in flight meets a natural gemstone with tens of thousands of years of history

She used to have a mother-of-pearl cabinet or a flower bed with a wood and butterfly design that she passed on to her daughter when she got married. “When I think of butterflies,” she says, “I’ve been told that the first butterfly you see in the spring is good luck, or that if you have one in your home, it’s a good luck insect that will bring good energy into your life.”

Butterflies are living, breathing insects, and gemstones are thousands and tens of thousands of years old, deep in the earth, creating different combinations of each other.

When she goes to look for materials, she buys any stone that has a nice pattern, or she buys a large stone, and she cuts the prettiest part of it into butterfly wings. When she gets tired of her work, she goes out to look for materials and comes across uncut stones. When I come across an unusual and beautiful stone, I get a spark of inspiration and feel rejuvenated.

It takes more than a month or two to create a piece of work because it requires cutting numerous stones. Every time a gemstone is cut or a new design is created, the preciousness of life and the wonder of nature are reflected in the work, forming the culmination of one’s efforts.

She puts a lot of effort into the entire process from conception to the first design, gathering ideas, and creating the work, creating personalized jewelry that matches the customer’s birthstone. “We are creating works that express nature as it is, rather than a subtle artificial scent. All materials used are stones that match the customer’s image, and the jewelry is completed.”

“I think there will come a day when various works that create new works that combine mysterious gemstones and metals through materials such as metal and wood, even though they are buried stones in the ground, will receive more attention.”

 

‘Walking Man’ collaboration exhibition, capturing happy moments in everyday life

Everyone will cherish good relationships. Kwak also had a special meeting with artist Sangwon Lee. In collaboration with Lee, Kwak presented ‘Golden Walking Man’, a three-dimensional sculpture made of 100% pure gold, at the exhibition. This shape was created by capturing and simplifying the images of modern people encountered in daily life and expanding them into a simplified sculpture with the motif of the human character (嬣).

Lee captures memories of happy moments of individuals and families in his works. Observing the lives of people living ordinary lives and finding specific patterns that repeat within them is the artist’s most important process, and most of her works start from there.

Kwak, who likes Lee’s work, said, “It was an honor to spend time working together, and I wanted to capture my own image in each and every one of Lee’s works.” The ‘Walking Man’ series is also planned to be exhibited overseas in the future.

Kwak said “I look forward to a time when Jewelry Art Tech’s artistic value is recognized through creations made of any material, rather than through collecting extremely expensive diamonds.”

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