FRAGILITY
Cindy Zhaohan-Li
United Kingdom

Growth Ribbon reflects on fragility as a generative state, where pain, transformation, and renewal coexist in the human body. I programmed the Tibetan Auspicious Ribbon Patterns into digital algorithms, transforming their intertwining gestures into generative forms that link the virtual and the tactile, the crafted and the personal. By inputting a single body scar as a growth line, each piece evolves into an auspicious jewellery form. The code translates stretch marks, growth lines, and traces of maternity into ornaments of grace, each a mark of fragility and renewal. Designed to echo the skin’s flexibility, every piece can be folded and expanded when worn, mirroring how scars often appear near joints where the body bends and heals. Inspired by my mother’s postpartum marks and my own adolescent growth lines, painful yet vital, these wearable forms embody emotional elasticity, tracing the balance between tenderness and endurance. Growth Ribbon celebrates fragility not as weakness, but as the quiet strength of healing and life’s persistence.

Brooch « Growth Ribbon Brooch », 2022
218x150x30 mm / gr
Sterling Silver
Algorithmic design, 3D wax print, lost-wax cast, metal riveting, soldering, polishing

Necklace « Growth Ribbon Necklace », 2022
200x174x18 mm / gr
Sterling Silver
Algorithmic design, 3D wax print, lost-wax cast, metal riveting, soldering, oxidation finish

More « FRAGILITY »

Fragility – Eiko Nakahara / Japan

FRAGILITYEiko NakaharaJapanThings we believed would never break often turn out to be fragile, brittle, and weak. We sometimes find beauty in broken objects or ruins. Yet even if we perceive life and beauty in fragile, weak things, witnessing the scenes of frequent...

Fragility – Katerina Jirsova / Czech Republic

FRAGILITYKaterina JirsovaCzech RepublicThese necklaces continue my ongoing exploration of the dialogue between the body, the object, and the space we inhabit. Crafted from white chalk, they carry the qualities of softness, fragility, and impermanence – a material that...

Fragility – Denis Music / Ukraine

FRAGILITYDenis MusicUkraineFragility is a state of tension — between strength and collapse, between freedom and threat, between life and its disappearance. My brooch Black Cloud was inspired by the installation of Ukrainian artist Oleksiy Sai, which rose above the...

Fragility – Isabelle Busnel / France

FRAGILITYIsabelle BusnelFranceThis work looks at fragility through two brooches made from broken jewellery found in flea markets. Each piece is partly lost and incomplete, set in soft silicone and stitched with light punch needle embroidery. The pale blue and pink...

Fragility – Alissa Goble / USA

FRAGILITYAlissa GobleUnited StatesObjects have a way of holding stories, carrying traces of memory, family, and identity. I’m drawn to the quiet power of the things we keep close and how they connect us to the past. Through crochet and metalsmithing, I use making as a...

Fragility – Esteban Erosky / Spain

FRAGILITYEsteban EroskySpainWhen our weaknesses, traumas, flaws, or idiosyncrasies are exposed, we become fragile. We go from feeling secure to feeling insecure, to being vulnerable. Always showing ourselves makes us feel insecure, which is why in my pieces I address...

Fragility – Yael Ouliel / Israel

FRAGILITYYael OulielIsraelThe union of rusted iron and 18-karat gold reveals fragility as a fundamental dimension of matter and existence. The iron, slowly eroded by rust, bears witness to vulnerability and transience, while the gold remains intact, its value unveiled...

Fragility – Beatrice Carlson / New Zealand

FRAGILITYBeatrice CarlsonNew ZealandHow do we refer to Fragility and how do we feel about it in our, somehow, judgemental, competitive society? Looking at synonyms, there is nothing positive about it: delicate, brittle, frail, weak, tenuous. Fragility is what some...

Fragility – Barbara Schwager / Switzerland

FRAGILITY Barbara SchwagerSwitzerlandFragile Moods Moods come and go. They are subject to fluctuations and external influences. We cannot always control them in our favour—in other words, “just be happy.” Only we ourselves know how we feel—and often we have to present...

Fragility – Cristina Celis / Mexico

FRAGILITYCristina CelisMexicoThe Last BreathFragility is the threshold where strength meets its limit, where existence reveals its most honest form.This work, made from weightless paper-thin ceramics, evokes a paradox: delicate yet tense, resilient yet on the verge of...