Emily Cobb

 Emily Cobb

Emily Cobb is a jewellery designer who is currently living and working Philadelphia. After receiving her Master of Fine Arts in Metals/Jewellery/CAD-CAM from Tyler School of Art in 2012, she is now adjunct instructor at the very same place she studied at. She also works for a jewellery design company in New York City and for independent studio artists in Philadelphia. Emily Cobb has held many solo exhibition at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, but as well as that she has also exhibited at museums such as the Delaware Centre for the Contemporary Arts and the Racine Art Museum. Her work has also been featured in Metalsmith Magazine, Philadelphia Daily News, and publications such as 500 Rings: New Directions in Art Jewellery and Humor in Craft.

Emily Cobb designs her works with CAD (computer-assisted design) software and manufactures it from sturdy lightweight photopolymers and nylon using a sophisticated 3D printer to create the 3D fairy-tale objects. It's also different from conventional pieces because of the materials used to make it, Cobb said, "Historically, society puts precious metals and stones on a pedestal. But I haven't found people want my jewellery to be priced lower because it's plastic." Cobb's smaller pieces cost from $100 to $300 while her larger unique pieces start at $1,000 and go to $3,000 depending on size and complexity.

Cobb's works hold their own as miniature sculptures sitting in glass cases or pinned to the wall. Each piece has a "Once upon a time" story introduction written by the artist on the title card. Cobb invites viewers to write their own story in specially made blank books. Most of the writings are whimsical and in keeping with Cobb's narrative. She embraces all the entries and is thrilled that some people are finishing each other's stories, something she did not anticipate.

When talking about her work she had this to say, "The illustration enchants me; it has a title and caption, but no story. I feel compelled to envision the narrative … to create the before and after … to solve the mystery."

When looking at her work, the first thing that hit me was the resemblance to illustration. Each piece looks as if they have been taken from an illustrated storybook, beautifully crafted with great detail to resemble the story characters as if they were real.

Each piece comes with a short description explaining the jewellery's story, but only a couple of sentences. This leaves the rest up to the imagination of the person viewing the work. It gives the jewellery another level of interest only having a glimpse of the tale and leaves us to wonder what is the rest of the story, and why has only this part been captured? Perhaps it is the end, or final scene and there is no more to be told? Or it is a turning point and has great importance for what is to come. Ether way Emily Cobb has managed to take a piece of jewellery and turn it into a narrative. The term wearable art has been use before, but these pieces appear to be more like a wearable story.