Meet our Guest Curator, Caroline Khoo
Image: Rachel Devine
Creative Director and Author Caroline Khoo established nectar and stone in 2013 with a vision to design, create and tell a story of eating with style and push creative boundaries. From dessert design and recipe development, styling to photography, Caroline’s work showcases and captures her soft and feminine aesthetic. With a global audience exceeding 430K on social media platforms, n & s has been loved and featured on the Martha Stewart and Apartment Therapy websites. Collaborations include the likes of Tiffany and Co, Dior, Christian Louboutin, Style Rocks, The Langham Hotel, Lexus, Mimco, Samantha Wills, Sony, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Innocent Bystander, Facebook … and now e.g.etal.
We asked Caroline to choose her favourite e.g.etal pieces for a curated collection and installation in our gallery. The result is a magnificent pink-hued layer-cake of crystal shards, milky minerals, buttery confections and sparkling jewels, along with a custom flower wall by Full de Bloom. Arguably the sweetest and most feminine aesthetic our gallery has ever showcased!
As a jewellery devotee, Caroline values the links to family history that jewellery can create. “My parents immigrated to Australia on their own from Greece when they married at the tender age of 20. So with no family roots other than my immediate siblings and parents, my mother had some beautiful and significant pieces of jewellery items that had been passed on from generation to generation with stories of where the pieces came from and what they mean. In a way I feel that from a young age it gave me some identity and enabled me to learn and appreciate the meaning of treasured heirlooms but also to begin a collection of my own stories from a young age with new pieces too.”
When making her e.g.etal selections, a concept came to mind: organic structural formation: “These words I carried with me when beginning to find what my eye was most drawn to at e.g.etal,” said Caroline. “I wanted the collection to showcase soft and fine details from each creator, yet showcase a hero element of the piece at the same time. I am a firm believer of being a master of your craft and so I feel that each piece really celebrates both an organic presence in a very mastered and technical structured formed way.”
The collection includes some pieces with a very personal connection. “I learned the art of glass bead making in my early twenties from Kathryn Wardill and have a complete appreciation and love for melting glass in a hot flame. I adore Kathryn’s natural and organic form of the beads which look like little tear clouds. The amount of work and time to create and then piece this altogether is something that really celebrates a master of their craft.”
Caroline was also drawn to Laura Eyles’ pink and white enameled earrings, whose surface could be that of a sugary dessert. “I love how the little spikes circling the enamel have been softened and rounded off. I feel like I am looking at little versions of the sun bursting with colour and vibrancy that would make you smile from ear to ear,” sad Caroline.
And because no collection is complete without a showstopper, several of Krista McRae’s pink and plum sapphire rings feature in the installation. “This stunning pink sapphire is undeniably a beauty to look at. I was drawn to not only the gorgeous cut and colour of the gemstone but also the way that Krista has used a matte gold and faceted the band in a geometric cut which I feel accentuates the look of the sapphire. I love that is appears simple and seamless yet to produce something likes this requires fine skill. It is luxurious and opulent,” said Caroline.
