A Portrait of the Artist

The motifs featured in this jewelry came to me as I walked the lush roads in my beautiful little surf town, seeking a sunshiney disposition to set me up for my day. It began to seem that the plants and flowers, bobbing in the wind, must be speaking to us. Craning their green lithesome necks toward the sun, cheerfully nodding at me on my wander, I began to hear their wisdom. Grow. Stretch. Onward! Higher. You can do it. We can do it, together.

I began creating artwork that riffed on the upbeat, decorative patterning of leaves and flowers that I memorized from Leucadian walks. The motifs riffed, too, on the inspired decorations that covered the oldest buildings of my former hometown, New York, in bronze and copper, stone and steel. I began to see the networks of line and texture in paint as a conversation or a puzzle. One motif speaking to the next - each needing its space to expand in its splendor, but also needing its neighbor just the same. Much like us as people. One motif took the stance of a strongman, flexing and sure. Another is trying to take off in flight, pure energy. Still another has its guard up on either side, boundaries firm.

Transforming them into jewelry, they have been hand carved in wax with love and attention, cast in solid 14k gold and set with GIA-certified ethically sourced diamonds. 

I create this jewelry as beautiful armor against the day to day, objects with weight and a sense of permanence and passion. They are for you and me, artful women whose inner world is colorful and complex. They collect your stories as you write them, and become imbued with meaning.

Working through growth always proves to be a journey. There is no beginning and there is no end. The mantras and affirmations that I repeat to myself, especially in writing and more physical ways, hold a lot more power for me than the odd one thrown around in passing, picked for the day. Commit to the idea of a certain type of growth for a period of time. It becomes true; it becomes you. Each piece of Aurora Oro Fine Jewelry comes with a hint of a meaning, but they’re general, open and forgiving. They want to morph to your own purposes.

They want to make you feel dressed, artfully considered, luxurious. They love to be layered. They are just weighty enough to give you a sense that they are there. They have a human touch. They feel old and storied, and fresh and sweet. These jewelry pieces are there around your neck to paw at when you need to fidget, when you need a reminder of what you stand for, when you need to gather your strength, when you need to remember your mantras. 

About the Designer:

Aurora Vanderbilt Mazzei studied sculpture and print-making, before cutting her chops in corporate retail in product development and merchandising. She then introduced and operated a series of conceptual, immersive retail spaces in New Orleans and New York, called Fair Folks & a Goat. Today, she lives and works beneath the palms and beside the Pacific in Southern California.