How Mason Bates’ music inspired Genevieve Howard’s commemorative necklace & bracelet.

Jewelry shares DNA with Mason Bates’ score for The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. Jewelry designer Genevieve Howard details how that came to be.

The uniqueness of Symphonic Fusion stems from the fact it was directly inspired by the original (R)evolution of Steve Jobs score by Mason Bates. The shapes created in the jewelry echo the musical movement of Bates’ original score forming a graphic counterpoint to Bates’ creative musical design.

"I was invited to take part in Crafted Visions: The Tensions of Opposites by co-curator Ivy Ross." She contacted me with a view to collaborate with Mason Bates.

He agreed to grant me exclusive access to his score for the opera allowing me to create original new work for the exhibition. It has been a privilege to work with Mason’s score. It provided me with a great opportunity to make new, exciting and original jewelry.

The idea of wearing and physically holding a piece of music really excites me. I begin by taking scores of music and hand drawing my own form of graphic notation from the architecture of traditional musical scores.

These graphic shapes are then redrawn on a CAD computer program and the pattern for each jewelry piece is finalized. The computer files are then exported and programmed into a laser cutter. The individual shapes are cut out from Japanese linen paper and then each sliver of paper is assembled together by hand into wearable jewelry pieces. The graphic shapes in the jewelry mirror the musical sequence of each original musical score.

See the show:
Crafted Visions : The Tension of Opposites
is now showingatPatina Gallery, Santa Fe.

Image Left: 'Symphonic Fusion Neckpiece', by Genevieve Howard
Image Right: 'Symphonic Fusion Bracelet', by Genevieve Howard

For more information on the work, please email: allison@patina-gallery.com

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