Where
stanford d.school
What
material exploration,
silversmithing,
jewelry
Duration
10 weeks
Skills
CAD modeling (Fusion 360)
lost-wax investment casting
hand finishing
Overview
I've always been drawn to jewelry because of how it lives closest to the body. More than decoration, I see it as a vessel for memory: a small object that holds nostalgia, identity, and the various ways we measure our own worth.
This project marked my first exploration of silversmithing. After previously casting larger aluminum objects, I challenged myself to work at jewelry scale, designing and fabricating silver pendants through CAD modeling, lost-wax casting, and hand finishing. The precision and intimacy of the process gave me a newfound appreciation for creating small objects that carry deeply personal meaning.
THE INSPIRATION
The ocean has always been where I find my strangest, most honest inspiration. I scuba dive, and some of the creatures I've seen underwater don't look like they should exist: too colorful, soft, and improbable. That improbability feels closer to how I think about beauty than anything conventional does. It's not neat or symmetrical. It's strange, and that's what I think, makes it so beautiful.
THE PIECES
Exploration I: noodi ring
Drawn from the ocean floor and cast in silver, this ring reimagines the nudibranch, a sea creature so improbable in color and form it reads almost as myth. Its ridged body curls around the finger like a living thing caught mid-drift. To wear it is to carry a small, strange wilderness on your hand.
Materials: lost-wax cast in sterling silver
Exploration II: bungeoppang pendant
Even the bungeoppang pendant begins with the sea. Bungeoppang literally means “carp bread,” and it is a fish-shaped pastry many Koreans remember from childhood (and my favorite snack): warm paper bags in winter, sweet red bean filling, and the comfort of walking home with someone you love. Long before it became a pastry, the carp appeared throughout Korean art and craft as a symbol of abundance, prosperity, harmony, and new life.
This pendant preserves that fleeting feeling. Cast in sterling silver, something once meant to disappear becomes lasting: a wearable reminder that the smallest moments often become the memories that shape us.
Materials: lost-wax cast in sterling silver
