New Designers: Hanna Sandin
A Brooklyn sculptor and jewelry designer plays brass
PUBLISHED: MAR 19, 2010
Hanna Sandin sees the beauty in simple geometry. "I'm fascinated by perfect shapes, like a triangle, that can be idiosyncratic when repeated," says the 28-year-old Rhode Island School of Design graduate. A sculptor by training, Sandin started designing Samma, her line of "naive" jewelry made from hand-carved brass and cotton rope, a year ago as a way to derive more immediate satisfaction from her skill set. (Presumably, fashioning a necklace takes fewer man-hours than a bronze bust.) Sandin applies the techniques she learned at RISD—such as hand-tooling wax for bead molds—to her rings and bangles. And sculptors like Joan Miró and Richard Tuttle—"his poverty of materials is really poetic"—remain at the top of her inspiration list. Sandin's family hails from northern Sweden, which might also have something to do with her minimalist designs. "It's such a homogenous culture; people just intuitively agree on what looks good," she says. "In a way, the synchronicity is freeing."