Eryn Rosenbaum | The Golden Hour

Artist: Eryn Rosenbaum, Texas
Materials: sterling and fine silver, 18k and 22k gold, dendritic agate, Namibian chalcedony, multicolored sapphires, ruby (all stones natural and untreated), LED bulb, LR41 batteries, tape
Size: 8.25

Artist Statement: This lightbox ring celebrates the “golden hour,” the time of day when the air glows with a diffuse golden light and the shadows stretch long. This is the moment that photographers wait for, that impressionist painters rushed to capture before it faded.
To evoke this charged atmosphere, I backlit a gold-encased dendritic agate with an LED hidden in the chamber behind it. The LED lights up the stone whenever an orange sapphire button is pushed. Rotating a chalcedony latch reveals the inner workings, with a hidden treasure inside: a tiny picture frame in which the owner may put an image. This ring is both artistic and utilitarian, functioning as a small flashlight as well as a statement piece of wearable interactive art.
I have hand-fabricated this ring. For the surface patterns, I have used custom images transferred onto card stock and then rolled onto silver. In an original process, my father prepared the card stock images for me using his laser printer and layers of aluminum foil. The tree branches on the side of the ring with the multicolored sapphires are from a photograph he took near our home in Vermont. The anticlastic inner band features wavy topographical lines, and around the button is a sunburst and the imprint of a leaf I picked from my garden.

Artist Bio: Coming from a family of artists on both sides, Eryn majored in Studio Art in college and continued to sequentially dabble in a variety of mediums, but it wasn’t until she discovered metalsmithing that she found her true artistic calling. In early 2016 while taking a break from an editorial career to raise her children, she taught herself to solder with a butane torch. Since then, she has dedicated herself to metalsmithing. Her jewelry celebrates texture and pattern, often juxtaposing botanical references with artistic motifs. She loves to figure out the mechanics of how to include unexpected elements such as compartments, adjustable or kinetic features, and unusual clasps. She strives to create pieces that will become future heirlooms as well as everyday favorites. Eryn currently lives in Dallas, TX with her husband, two boys, and a dog named Darwin.

This ring was part of Battle of the Rings: Ring Smackdown 2024, an online exhibition and competition. View the entire collection HERE, view the matches HERE, and learn more HERE.