Unveiling the Vision: The Artistic Journey and Philosophy of Jovana Djuric
Jovana Djuric’s journey as an artist and jewelry designer is marked by curiosity, resilience, and a passion for creativity. Born in Former Yugoslavia, Jovana grew up with a desire for learning, constantly seeking and exploring. When her world changed, she bravely moved to the United States to pursue her art career and education. This journey laid the foundation for her unique artistic vision, influenced by jazz and moments of self-empowerment in the bustling city of New York.
Harvest the power of your hands
Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
A: Where does one start with this type of question? It’s always an interesting task to wrap oneself in a short and condensed story and try to distill it in a few words. The only way I know how to tackle this is to try to capture what vibrates with my inner truth. There are few things the most important to my background, and those all stem from my lifelong thirst for learning. Since I was a little kid I was a seeker, explorer and investigator. I was born in Former Yugoslavia, went through the collapse of the world as I knew it, and then left all by myself for the United States with zero money in my pocket to pursue my art career and education. This is something of an external framework for my background. With touches of jazz and self empowering solitude in the city that never sleeps.
Q: What inspired you to start designing jewelry?
A: I have always been very intrigued by the process of change and transformation: how one thing turns into another. My favorite class in school was chemistry. I could experiment with the solutions trying to identify the compounds through multiple tests…it's amazing we were even asked to do that at school! The most rapid and enduring change is the one you affect on metal with fire…in other words, I was initially drawn to jewelry because of the metallurgy and the chemical processes that got represented through the objects I’ve created.
Q: How did you develop your vision for luxury jewelry?
A: The vision for my brand and the pieces I make is the direct expression of how I lead my life and what I believe in. I believe that all is connected and ultimately that all is one. I honor that notion through beauty, refinement, dedication, resilience, persistence and care that I pour into everything I do and all the pieces I create. For me the real luxury is not about money, it is about the deep awareness of things, and trusting what is the right path for the benefit of all sentient beings. Right moment, right amount, right fit. I always start with the feeling of inner empowerment that comes with the inner awareness that comes from applied care and mastery over everything I do.
Q: What does luxury mean to you in the context of jewelry design?
A: Ultimately true luxury is about the intentions- how connected, self aware, measured, refined, caring and knowing are you? When you follow that path others see in terms of luxury: refined, considered forms, precision in execution, and the materials whose sources can be traced to the place of origin.
Q: Can you describe the core values that drive your designs?
AUTHENTICITY. COURAGE. BEAUTY. FREEDOM
A: For me everything starts with a question: What can we experience that we haven’t before? And this doesn’t have to be some epic or novel thing- it is more about subtle yet deeply penetrating and liberating notions of self awareness. The question for me is always, how can I tap into myself more, how can I know myself more. How can I support myself more on my journey of recovering from ancestral trauma and societal patterning? My pieces are encoded with this intention. And that intention is shared with everyone who wears my pieces. They can feel they got themselves an ally for life. My pieces are here to remind you that Yes, you have places to go deep inside yourself and it’s going to be a life altering Heroic Journey.
Q: Who or what has been your biggest inspiration in your journey?
A: I think my biggest ally and driving force behind my work has always been curiosity. I wanted to understand things around me, and involve myself with them through the act of creating. One of my biggest teachers has always been Nature herself. Her forms, her joints, the way she solves functional tasks and creates pieces and organisms of unmatched beauty and precision, I bow to her with everything I do.
Q: How do you stay inspired and creative?
A: I stay inspired by reconnecting with myself. On a daily basis, as part of my morning and daily rituals, through meditation and journaling and drawing. I travel, go to museums, I see work of other artists: painters, architects, poets, choreographers, but ultimately it is in the space of silence and inner rejuvenation and connecting to the Source, or Muses that I get my inspiration and urge to create.
Q: Can you share a significant milestone in your career that shaped your path?
A: I am celebrating my 10th Year Anniversary this year! This is a major persona and professional l milestone and I am deeply grateful for all that happened and lead to this moment.
Q: What challenges did you face when starting out, and how did you overcome them?
A: From the day I have left the design director position and creating work for someone else, I had this idea that I am going to grow fast and have a hundred people large company right from the gate - that expectation was not met, and I had to readjust my notions of growth and the type of the impact I am going to have and build. I overcame my challenges by looking deeper into my motivations and reasons for doing what I love, and by being dedicated to the truth of my work, by believing in it.
Q: How does your personal life influence your professional work?
A: My personal life is super interconnected with my work, or rather my work is a direct expression of how I live, what I believe in. My ideas and motos inspire my collections, how I communicate in real life is the basis for all my marketing and communication.
Q: Can you share a personal story that had an impact on your designs?
A: This is a seemingly insignificant story, but it had a deep impact on me. I was standing on the subway platform waiting for the train in New York City, I looked down on my wrist, and I had this deep visceral feeling of what I wanted to create, and so to speak, apply onto my arm. In that moment I realized how much of my designing is actually listening to the messages and urges of my own body. I could sense how it wanted to feel, in order to feel supported, fortified, badass and connected to the Universal flow of energy. Since then I always listen, and I am acutely aware of what my body says it wants, and I always try to respond to that request.
Q: How do you balance your personal and professional life?
A: My professional life and my personal life are almost one and the same. I guess it all balances itself out. The only thing I try to do is always listen to my body. If I feel I am getting tired or stressed out, I try to feel what is needed at that moment and to give it to myself. The easiest one to reset anything is a 15 minute-laydown-rest.
Q: What hobbies or interests do you have outside of jewelry design?
A: I sing, meditate, do ceramics and take flamenco classes- these things nurture parts of me that are very important to my soul and my being.
Q: How do you stay motivated and focused?
A: When I am my best at work and life is when I do what I said I am going to do, when I commit my ours, when I create space for work, when I have my lists to go through. The more I am focused, the more I am focused- its self perpetuating magic of being in the space of creation- whatever that is- carving was or answering emails. I stay motivated and focused when I create space for work, and then it just flows, I don't have to force it. Taking fifteen minute breaks to lay down and listen to classical music to refresh the system helps as well.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you as a jewelry designer?
A: These days having a business that I run is a little more complicated than the one of a jewelry designer. I always start with my morning practice that includes movement, meditation and journaling. After that I usually have the team meeting with my partner to go over the pending issues and schedules. My work includes blocks of time for designing new collections and dealing with the production of the samples, I deal with the PR requests and PR samples. I also deal with customer care as I love being in direct communication with my clients. I then try to have a block of time where
Q: Can you walk us through your creative process, from idea to finished piece?
A: There are a few different paths I take when creating. Sometimes I start with a single piece of jewelry - there is a shape I want to explore and I start with directly carving it into a piece of a green jewelers wax. When the model is done in wax, I cast it in silver or bronze. I polish and finish it so that I can wear my prototype, and see how I feel and what is the next step. Often that piece becomes a seed for the new collection and I embark on a further development of an idea.
Q: What materials do you prefer to work with, and why?
A: As someone with a background in sculpture I love working with bronze: it is hard and it has a lovely deep earth pink color. Bronze is less precious in the sense of cost, so I can work on a larger scale and be really gestural with it. When It comes to finalizing my piece of jewelry I love working both in Sterling Silver and 18K Yellow Gold. I love Silver for it is gentle and moody, delicate and fresh, and it is easy to work with. Gold I love because of its robust Solar energy. I love the way it makes me feel, I love how life affirming it is.
Q: How do you ensure the quality and uniqueness of your designs?
A: The only thing you can ensure is to be true to yourself. Is this work an expression of how you feel and what you want to see in the world? Does it feel good in your body as your hand carves the wax and creates the shape? Do you love what you are seeing?
These are the questions that are always on my mind as I create something. I have no interest in pretending to be something that I am not, nor lie to myself. I guess this is how I ensure to be true to myself- what happens next, will people respond to it and love it, that is out of my hands. And the quality part is all about the standard you hold- you know when something is done right.
Q: Can you share a favorite piece you’ve designed?
A: My favorite piece that I designed is probably the ring Horus N2- it distills the essence of my curve and the sense of my proportions. When I look at it I get imbued by the sense of freedom
Q: Who inspired you to design this kind of jewelry, and how have they impacted your career?
A: My Jewelry is a direct expression of my own being, a download of sorts. There was no one who directly inspired my work. I do respond to the world around me for sure. My work is in the lineage of modernist thought asI too, seek to procure new ways of connecting with the world based on respect for our interconnectedness.
Q: How has the luxury jewelry market evolved since you started, and how have you adapted?
A: We know that the whole world has changed, since COVID there has been a more acute awareness of what is really important in life. So many people are now open to upholding those new notions. People value experiences over the products and for me that is the most exciting part. People love to know more about the process and even learn about it. I have expanded my work to include education and jewelry making for underprivileged kids, and I hope to expand that for the adults as well - for me that is the true luxury - offering an opportunity to be involved and learn, not only consume.
Q: How do you see the future of luxury jewelry design?
A: Looking ahead, I envision the future of luxury jewelry design evolving towards more sustainable practices and deeper connections with consumers. There’s a growing demand for transparency, craftsmanship, and ethical sourcing. I aim to lead by example, ensuring my designs reflect these values while pushing boundaries in creativity and innovation.
Q: Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you're excited about?
A: I am expanding my collaborations with the major retailers in the United States and some projects we have in the making are soon to be revealed.
Q: How do you hope your jewelry makes people feel?
A: I hope people feel more in touch with their core primordial self- there in this part of us that is untouched and unpolluted, that we sometimes need to remember. It is my intention that my jewelry brings back that deeper sense of self.
Q: What legacy do you want to leave in the world of jewelry design?
A: I think my shapes are my legacy. My commitment to beauty and refinement is my legacy. Some of my deeds are made in metal and they will by their very nature remain long after I am gone, some of my deeds are fleeting and ephemeral…like a white cloud passing over the sunny skies, and those too are my legacy. It doesn't have to be monumental. It just needs to be truthful.
