Jewellery by Johnny Nelson
I'm a jewellery designer from Brooklyn, New York. I was born in Reading, England. I started making jewellery while I was on tour with this band called Spank Rock. They’re like a political party rap group, and so while I was on tour I was like, let me try to find a way to enhance my stage performance. I wanted to make my performance more visually stimulating. So I decided that I wanted to make some jewellery. I actually asked my Mom to make me a ring first. She made it out of a wire wrapped in some stolen Black Swan lace, and I got a lot of compliments about that. So I asked her to teach me how to make it. I started to make a whole lot of things for my friends and I actually really liked the way that it felt when I gave it to them. I was like wow, this is something that I really love doing. I kept doing it for love, and I went on to casting my own pieces. I learned how to do that from some mentors that were in the diamond district in New York City. And I’ve been doing what I love ever since.
Growing up in Brooklyn was different. There was a strong hip hop culture, but also the communities were different. I was rapping a lot, there was a big rap battle scene I was involved in. I was listening to a lot of Jay Z, he’s one of my biggest influences when it comes to rap.
I have different pieces that I make. When I started off, I’d makelike punk inspired pieces. Like a razor blade ring. That’s something I created for style, and for shock value. That's one of my favourite pieces. But I have a load of hip hop inspired stuff too. Like my Hip Hop Mount Rushmore ring. It’s basically a sculpture. People feel like it’s like the forefathers of America sculpture, reimagined. I did a bunch of different reimaginations of Mount Rushmore, to basically reflect me and my community and just different cultures in general. I have my black history, civil rights Mount Rushmore - Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass. It’s spoken about a lot right now, but this is a fight we’ve been fighting over here since we got to America. We’re trying to be free, trying to be seen as equals and trying to reap the benefits of this country that we created by free labour.
It's inspirational and at the same time exhausting, protesting and stuff like that. Going out and feeling the energy and then coming back home, it’s kind of draining. It’s really sad. This shouldn’t even be something that's a thing. It’s good that people are starting to open their eyes to stuff that’s been going down, but it should never have happened like this. We should have all been looked upon as the same, because we all breathe oxygen, we all eat food, we all drink water. But it is what it is, and hopefully change will happen. I'm optimistic for change because it's starting now, and even if it's not gonna change the minds of older people, the younger kids will know. It’s paving the way for the generations to come. They might actually break that generational curse of racism.
I make jewellery that is supposed to spark the conversations that will lead to change. My work is supposed to teach people about these leaders, so we can have new leaders. You can’t miss it. If you’re walking down the street and you see someone wearing a four finger ring with the faces of Black history, you’re gonna ask about it and you’re gonna learn.
Johnny Nelson