This series was initially an extension of the Swan Lake series. The silhouettes in the latter are anonymous and along the way I became curious about other dance styles and more identifiable dance figures. Being a big fan of Audrey Hepburn, she was an obvious choice to further investigate. But Hepburn was not just a fabulous actress and dancer. She also served tirelessly as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, drawing attention to the plight of children in global crises. From that duality, a new series was born: a personal ode to ‘iconic women’ – iconic for their role in the arts and iconic for their efforts to stick up for the oppressed. To inspire us to do the same…

The Iconic Women jewels are one-off homage pieces that are not for sale for now (held in private collection). They are part of a larger project where I study the history of iconic women, read their (auto)biographies and write articles about their lives and how they resisted – sometimes literally joining the resistance. I started out with Audrey Hepburn and Peggy Guggenheim, now researching Josephine Baker, with Nina Simone and Liza Minnelli on my wish list.

This series is a way of integrating my first two careers (in international peace & security and as a parent of two girls) into my artistic life: showing my daughters and anyone else willing to look and listen, examples of formidable women who stood out and stood up!