Annemie De Corte

WIREWORK

2018
sterling silver: length
47 1/4 inches

Posing for the cover of Essence Magazine’s June 2011 issue, Alicia Keys wore this necklace by Belgian jewelry maker Annemie De Corte. This sterling silver wire necklace snakes around the wearer’s neck in a long, beautifully irregular tubular basket weave. Playing heavily into De Corte’s work are her travels throughout Indonesia, where she was fascinated by Eastern craft and the ways Indonesian craftspeople incorporate natural materials into their applied arts. De Corte expresses her own form of weaving and basketry in her jewelry pieces such as Wirework, exploring movement, light, and space. With her intimate knowledge of her materials, she spends up to 1,000 hours crafting one piece of jewelry. Graduating from the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp in 1989 and the National High institute of Antwerp in 1992, De Corte studied and trained as a goldsmith and jewelry designer. In addition to making her own art, she teaches at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium and has guest lectured at various art schools in China. She has showcased her work in countless solo and group exhibitions around the world, and her work can be found in private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Art Boston.