Amiah Taylor: What are your feelings on the #BlackLivesMatter Movement?

Emilie Shapiro: I am in full support and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. I can feel the tides turning, not just in the world but in myself. As a white woman who was raised by liberal parents in NY, I’ve always considered myself an ally without a racist bone in my body. Like so many others, I’m realizing for the first time in my life that’s not true. I’ve been looking back at things that I was taught growing up, in school and simply ingrained in our system, and am realizing for the first time we were not shown the whole picture. I’ve been focusing on educating myself, learning how to educate my son, and having conversations with friends and family that honestly we would have never had before. Not because we weren’t interested or didn’t believe that black people are not treated equally or given equal opportunity, but because we didn’t feel like it was our place to talk about. I realize now that’s wrong. We have to talk, and we have to fight for change – that’s our privilege. We need to make space, make noise, and make some changes!

AT: You’ve said all of your pieces are just extensions of your soul, how do you deal with the vulnerability of creating pieces that deeply reflect the self?

ES:  It’s really all I know how to do. I’m much more vulnerable doing other things I don’t feel confident in – like speaking on camera, math, and baking. I think when you’re comfortable with a skill or medium it gives you the freedom to just do you. 

AT: What draws you to brass as a medium? 

ES: I love working with brass so I can be big and bold with it. I love the color and I love the resistance it gives when working with it. 

AT: When you have low-energy days or days where you feel drained, do you have favorite motivational speakers that you use to lift your spirits? 

ES: I really love listening to Kurt Elster; he’s a marketing genius and is passionate about entrepreneurship and creativity. After I listen to his podcast I always feel energized about my business.

AT: You were able to help donate nearly 50 masks to frontline emergency workers at NYU Langone Hospital in NYC. In what ways has the pandemic changed your daily perspective? 

ES: I was really excited to be able to donate masks to NYU Langone hospital workers here in NYC. It’s something we wear every day in my studio, and never in a million years would I have thought how coveted they would be. The pandemic has taught me a lot of things, but mostly to slow down, to not take advantage of the small moments and how lucky I am to have my family, health, food on my table and a roof over my head.

Amiah Taylor: Where do you stand as far as the #BlackLivesMatter Movement?

Sarah Swell: I (and we as a business) unequivocally support the Black Lives Matter Movement. I unequivocally rebuke police brutality and support (at the very least) massive reform and reframing of the police. 

AT: So it’s safe to say that you consider yourself to be an ally? 

SS: While I hope to be seen as an ally, and am not entirely new to the movement, there’s a lot of work I need to do to be able to call myself an ally. I’ve been focusing on ways to use my business as a vehicle for racial justice & social justice work, donating, and reading. It has always been a goal of mine to incorporate more of a social justice lens into my business, but in all honesty, I fell asleep at the wheel a bit over the past couple of years. This inflection point in our country sparked by the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd (among many others) has jerked me awake and I vow to never go back to sleep.

AT: It’s always good to see people intentionally doing the work to improve, so I can appreciate that. You’ve had to close your shop because of the California wildfires and then again for the pandemic. How do you continue with a spirit of optimism in the face of adversity? 

SS: Well, I’ll start by saying that I’m certainly not always optimistic! Owning a small business has always and will always be a challenge. My business is an extension of myself, and making jewelry is my passion. Even when it’s difficult, I find myself returning again and again for the love of the craft.

AT: What ties you to Sausalito and why is it a special place for you?

SS: I moved my studio to Sausalito from Oakland because I was craving a quieter life. Sausalito has an interesting history, from its days as a raucous bootlegging town during prohibition to the counterculture music scene in the ’60s & ’70s, it’s always been a weird, special little place. And I love weird.

AT: What’s your favorite gemstone? 

SS: I have to go with diamonds. Let me specify by saying unique diamonds. The range of colors and unique cuts is incredible. We use a lot of non-traditional diamonds in our work and I love it when clients ask what the stone is. They often do a double-take when we tell them it’s a diamond. From a designer standpoint, they’re very durable, so I like that I don’t need to stress when designing with them and in turn, clients don’t have to worry about durability when wearing them.

AT: You make jewelry modeled after fishbones. Fishbone jewelry has connections to cultures in both Hawaii and New Zealand. Is there any hidden significance or intentionality behind those specific designs?

SS: The fishbone series was my very first. I grew up on the east coast by the sea, so the design is more of an interpretation of a life lived by the ocean rather than anything very specific. Although it definitely has nods to both fish (in its scale-like fluidity) and snakes (with its serpentine-like movement.) 

Amiah Taylor: How do you both feel about police brutality and do you consider yourselves to be allies?

Nicole Rimedio and Scott Zankman: We are fully supportive of the protests. We see protest as a vital part of American society. We hope that the protests continue until there is a real, serious, and measurable change to the way BIPOC are treated by this country. We believe that systemic racism is a problem that all people need to work to solve and that white supremacy is a problem that white people need to see as their problem. It’s not a black issue, it’s a white issue.

AT: How do you relate to the Black Lives Matter Movement?

SZ: We’re interested in reposting BLM related content through an art lens. We’re not an activist organization or a news source. We are a deeply artistic jewelry brand. We will look to highlight images and words that speak to us as art. Yes, we want to repost the work of black artists and others but we also want to expand the definition to include actions taken in the protest. For instance, dismantling a statue of a slave owner and then defacing it is something we consider to be art.  

AT: If you could be a superhero husband and wife team, saving the world from the crime of hideous jewelry, what would you call yourselves? 

SZ: We already are that: Team Variance. We want to change how beauty is perceived. The standardized version of it never really gets questioned. It’s a mission of sorts. 

AT: What was your original intention behind getting a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley? 

NR: I thought it was the right thing to be a professional and have a good steady career. I’ve always been interested in urban systems. How people inhabit spaces, what makes a place seem magical. I love observing how people move through space. I think the most valuable experience of it all was sitting through 3 years of what felt wrong, which led me to see clearly what was right for me.

 AT: I love that perspective and I’ve had the same experience of sorting through what was wrong to gain more clarity. Speaking of clarity though, I love the way that your jewelry stands out in pictures. Do you have any tips for how to best capture jewelry in photographs? 

SZ: A nice lens helps, get a macro lens. For us, we’re looking to capture the texture of the work as we believe this is an important aspect of our aesthetic. Plus, jewelry is small so we believe it is important to focus on the actual piece.

AT: You approach your jewelry from a minimalist perspective, do you also embrace minimalism in your daily life? 

NR: Yes, from the perspective of where I put my focus. I prefer to only have a few things I am focusing on at a time. I don’t do well with feeling scattered. I guess you could say I approach minimalism from a mental place. But I like stuff. You should see my closet.