My graduation project on my BA in Metal and Jewelry Arts from Shenkar College.

The topic I chose to delve into during my last year at Shenkar is physical gestures of cultural significance between people that represent social codes. There are several types of gestures: between spouses, family members, friends. Each of a different nature, I chose to focus on contact between strangers and first encounters.

Here you can see my journey from the final collection to the first reference photos and sketches.

Photography top photos: Achikam Ben Yosef @achikamenyosef 

Photography next photos: Myself

Models: Rom Sade @iamromsade 

               Tal Betzalel @tal_betzalel

1. Tap On The Shoulder.

2. Touching The Arm.

3. Kiss On The Cheek (kissing side).

4. Fist Bump.

5. Hand Shake.

6. Kiss On The Cheek (Being kissed).

7. Hug.

Progression of my graduation project, after having more time to print, hand-cut, and assemble the big statement pieces. And adding in more colors as originally intended.

Submitted to ITS2020 competition.

Moving on to printing is clear PLA. Keeping in mind the need for a more sturdy and strong material than SLA.
and creating a snap-in mechanism on Rhino, allowing me to connect hundreds of base pieces to each other to assemble the final piece.
Here you can see the movement of the objects:

The links mechanism up close.
This design allows me to print more efficiently, with less waste, an endless number of pieces, and the links connect with a click with no added material for support and stay in place.

The fist-bump ring is created using the same material and method.

Trying out different compositions of texture on the base I've built in Rhino.

Structuring and printing in clear SLA my arm bracelet and adding in over 500 tiny PVC hand-cut pieces to sit inside to act as a textural feature as well as a buffer of soft material to touch the wearer's arm.

Also, the shoulder piece is crafted simultaneously.

Both are tested under black light and seem to give more emphasis to my main concept: Put a "spotlight" on the area on the body I'm referring to.

Shoulder piece (Tap on the shoulder)

Turning to a new direction, building a base structure in 3d printing.

Designing the base with the PVC qualities in mind: taking into consideration what directions the PVC can bend to, how much it can bend, its width, and range of motion. and create a texture by using multiple pieces accurately hand cut (PVC can't be laser cut in my country).

More experimenting with PVC as my main base material and realizing it's not giving my desired concept feel and look.

Start of the face object (kiss on the cheek) evolution.

Clear PVC, Steel and German Silver.

Starting to build a 3-dimensional object and placing it in certain places on the body.

Designing my objects in Rhino and rendering them in Keyshot.

Digital illustrations on the body, after more experimenting with the materials and reaching a certain design Language.

Playing around with the materials I chose to work with: PVC, PLA filament, Silver 925 and Swarovski.

Seeing what the material (PVC) allows me to do, which textures and shapes it can produce, and in which combination and it works best. 

First sketches, thinking which area on the human body I'm referring to.

Playing around with ready-made materials and 3D printing and seeing how it translates my concept.

Materials: PLA, Silicone bristles, Synthetic grass, Spray paint, Epoxy, PVC, Silver 925.

Looking and researching crinoline skirts for structural inspiration and solutions.

My base of reference. Nature: Textural array, colors, repetitiveness, structure.