Bread becomes a “precious and beautiful element” in this jewellery range created by designer Cindy Xinyi Wu as an ode to the act of baking and the energetic nature of dough.
The Rising collection features sculptural rings, brooches, earrings, bangles and necklaces, all with baked bread dough bulging out of intricately shaped metal frameworks.
The shapes were produced by allowing the dough to expand freely within the metal bands while rising and baking.
After baking, the bread was dehydrated to harden its form and preserve its appearance.
Wu designed the bands themselves to reference the actions of kneading, stretching and folding during the breadmaking process.
She channelled years of baking experience into the Rising collection, which she created as her final-year project in the jewellery design undergraduate course at London’s Central Saint Martins.
After experimenting with baking as a child, Wu said she began to formally study the craft in 2018 and enjoyed not just the joy of eating and sharing bread but the mental retreat provided by the process of breadmaking.
“Baking requires my complete concentration at every step and careful observation throughout each phase,” Wu told Dezeen.
“Immersing myself fully in the process of making bread helps me relax – you could say this hobby has saved me over the years.”
“While I might be realistic, orderly, repressed, anxious and a perfectionist in my primary world, whenever I feel crises and a loss of control, baking becomes my retreat,” she continued.
“It transports me to this second world of bread, where I can breathe again and regain my composure,” Wu added.
“Thus, baking is not just a hobby for me; it’s a vital escape from the harshness of reality and a way to alleviate stress and anxiety.”
Her goal with the collection was both to document her own connection with bread and to elevate the foodstuff to the position of a decorative material, on a par with gemstones.
“I’ve always perceived bread as a precious and beautiful element,” Wu said.
“In my work, I intended for bread to take the central role traditionally occupied by gemstones in jewellery, hence my method of integrating bread with metal is influenced by the classic technique of setting gemstones in metal frameworks.”
The metal frames in Wu’s work take many different forms. Some are deeply textured like slabs of pulled dough, some are complex and twisted like the folds of a bun, while others provide a smooth and gleaming counterpoint.
The designer said her baking studies had introduced her to the many different metal tools and moulds used to shape bread around the world, which ultimately inspired her to experiment with metal frameworks.
“Unlike traditional recipes, where moulds strictly define the bread’s shape, I wanted the dough to expand freely and randomly, showcasing its own vitality and the unique aesthetic brought about by its rising,” said Wu.
Wu hopes that her deep affinity for the material comes across in the collection and inspires viewers to look at bread anew.
She points to characteristics like bread’s unpredictability, the surprising changes brought on by factors such as temperature or length of fermentation, and the way dough “relaxes” and slumps after being shaped that give this food a unique and loveable character.
“The aspect of baking I love the most is the dough’s expansion during fermentation, which I refer to as ‘rising’ – also the name of my collection,” said Wu.
“In the Rising series, I aim to capture the vitality and inherent energy of dough as it expands, documenting the unique shapes created by its free and random growth.”
“Watching the dough rise is fascinating; the yeast slowly fills it with air, and bubbles gradually emerge on the surface,” she continued.
“To me, this process feels like breathing, like a pulse, with each batch of dough possessing a distinct personality. This part of the process always feels healing and recharging to me.”
Another product released for bread lovers this year is the baguette stamp designed by Stéphane Humbert-Basset for the French post office. As well as featuring a little baguette illustration, the scratch-and-sniff stamp gives off the aroma of baked goods.
