From the Dawn of Time

Singaporean artist Dawn Kwan shares with CATCH about creating handmade jewellery, the inspiration behind them, and advice for young entrepreneurs.

Story by: Peter Sharvin | Photos by: Dawn Kwan

For as long as Dawn Kwan remembers, she had been creating with her hands. This 23-year-old truly is the jack of all trades when it comes to art. She has come a long way from when she first started experimenting with paint at the age of five. “I don’t have any siblings, so my mom felt that painting was a constructive way to entertain me as a kid,” she said. This sparked the first of many interests, such as painting, pottery and jewellery-making. 

Her jewellery-making journey started in 2015, when she stumbled upon a jewellery-making kit while on vacation in Japan. She was lost at first as she could not read the instructions which were written in Japanese. However, to her surprise she said she found it to be quite intuitive and everything eventually just fell into place. “When I came back and showed my friends what I created, they told me that I should sell them. However, I felt that I wanted to deliver my best results and be proud of what I sell. So, I decided to wait and in late 2017, I started selling them on Instagram,” she said. 

Being able to capture the beauty of the flowers is a strong selling point for her. All of which are sold on her Instagram page named @balm.jewellery. “A lot of what I create and art itself relates to healing and I feel that the name ‘Balm Jewellery’ brings across that sense of calm and quietness,” she said. 

Dawn’s jewellery is made with resin and variations of other compositions. These compositions consist of both gold flakes as well as dried flowers. What makes her work so unique is that she patiently curates the compositions within each piece, making each design purposeful. 

“When I pick the flowers and the colours, I ensure that I pick the ones which are particularly flattering and complementary with each other,” she said. “I try to make it look like the flowers are being suspended as well as give the illusion that the petals are falling down and ascending,” she added.

Dawn decided to use dried flowers in her jewellery after being inspired by the seasonal Sakura flowers, which are native to Japan.

Dawn uses the journey of creating her pieces to continually inspire herself. She prefers to experiment and allow the process of creating the work to shape the final product, rather than having an end goal in mind. “For something like jewellery-making and pottery, the experience of crafting and building each piece to completion is the most enjoyable,” she said. 

Dawn also has to find the balance between creating for passion and creating for money. She said that they can’t be “excluded from one another” because a business still needs to be sustainable. “I think it’s very important for people to be practical when it comes to creating and selling their products. I mean, at the end of the day, you can look at it, admire it, but you can’t eat it,” she said with a wide grin.

When asked what is one thing she wants to tell the current generation, she says with conviction, “I want to say: just go for it. Because at the end of the day, it is your life. So if not for yourself, who are you going to live it for?”