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Finding: Art of Emaan

Arabesque Star Knot Pendant
Arabesque Star Knot Pendant

Starting in 2015, I am going to occasionally highlight some other pieces of art or jewelry that I find inspiration from, and talk about the an artist or maker behind the work.

The first I want to talk about is Art of Emaan by Ian Garrett. He is a Muslim artist living in London. I originally found his work through Shapeways. He does more than just make 3D printed jewelry. He also makes paintings and sculptures. His is a combination of Celtic and Islamic art. Obviously I was very familiar with Celtic art, but I knew next to nothing about Islamic or arabesque art. It turns out they also use a lot of interlace patterns, with spiritual or religious meanings. Ian’s work straddles these two different forms.

According to his bio, he was invited to show his work at the Islam Awareness Week at the Scotland Street Museum. The event was designed to show what things our Western culture have in common with the Muslim community. I find this especially great considering the things going on in the world today.

There are two pendant designs I wanted to highlight. First is the Arabesque Star Knot Pendant (shown above). It is similar to Celtic knotwork but it uses straight lines instead of curved lines. The resulting pattern produces an 8-pointed star, and if you look closely, you will find a few 8-pointed stars inside this design. I had to look it up, but the 8-pointed star does have significance in Islam. It was known as the “seal of the prophets” in the middle ages.

Spiral Knot Pendant
Spiral Knot Pendant

Second is the Spiral Knot Pendant. I really like this one because it is just 1 single strand wrapped into a really nice pattern. It shows you don’t need multiple interwoven strands to make an interesting design.

Both of these look like they are done in Shapeways’ matte gold-plated steel material. This gives a nice texture to the surface and really brings depth to the piece in my opinion.

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