Designer Julia Koerner, perhaps best known for her costume design work on Marvel’s Black Panther franchise, has unveiled her latest pieces: 3D printed earrings with complex, organic geometries inspired by coral. Three styles of earring, all part of the Coralea Series, were launched through Koerner’s design brand, JK3D.
Koerner’s work has consistently been interested in bridging traditional or natural design with high-tech crafting techniques, like digital design and 3D printing. With her Coralea Series, there is no denying that the bridge is a strong one. The 3D printed jewelry draws from the natural forms of coral, resulting in sculptural ornaments that appear almost to be growing from and around the wearer. The intricate designs also integrate pearl-like features, which add some extra opulence to the monochromatic earrings and emphasize “the interplay between organic patterns and modern aesthetics”.
As we said, the Coralea Series consists of three earring designs. All three bear similarities in terms of their node-like texture but vary in their size: the large ones are arguably the most eye-catching, as they fully wrap around the wearer’s ear. The medium and small designs are more subtle, but still make a statement.
The earrings, which feature intricate details smaller than 1 mm in size, are made using Elegoo’s high-precision JupiterSE 3D printer, a desktop resin machine that has become popular amongst makers. Notably, JK3D has opted to make the earrings from a renewable plant-based material, in line with the design brand’s sustainability ethos. Also on this front, the earrings are made at JK3D’s studios—either in Los Angeles or Vienna—based on demand and the 3D printing technology is powered by renewable energy.
The Coralea Series expands JK3D’s growing portfolio of art and design products, which also includes 3D printed crystal lamellas, Afrofuturist jewelry, fungi-inspired handbags, home decor and more. She has also worked on more conceptual projects, like Frozen Music, a sculpture whose design was algorithmically generated based on a recording of Schumann’s third Symphony.
