Farheen Ali

Farheen Ali is a Toronto-based illustrator and jewellery artist. A medical illustrator by profession, Farheen has always been intrigued by organic forms and colors that exist in nature. Her training in landscape watercolour and Japanese sumi-e painting has inspired her to pay careful attention to and capture natural shapes in her artwork. Six years ago, she started to experiment with wire wrapped jewelry and discovered that she could create organic shapes and forms not just on a flat surface but in 3D as well. She now works with a palette of unique beads and found objects to create wearable pieces of art.

Farheen’s works consist mostly of stainless steel and copper wire-wrapped statement necklaces, pendants and earrings. These utilize upcycled materials mixed with raw stones, Swarovski crystals and pearls. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and tells its own story depending on the where the different elements that create it have come from.

When starting to build a statement necklace, Farheen Ali starts by selecting a unique bead or stone, which will become the focal point of the piece. Then using steel wire, wire cutters, pliers and dremel she drills holes and wraps a variety of other complementary beads and crystals one by one, building the necklace on a dress form, similar to as one builds a painting, stroke by stroke. Color and composition play an important role and as the piece grows. Adding different tints and textures results in creating balance and movement to the necklace, until the piece is complete.