Naomi Gilon Breaks Barriers With Ceramic Fashion
Belgian artist Naomi Gilon combines her work in car tuning and her passion for pop culture and style to create hybrid works of ceramic art and fashion. Her website boasts a variety of human-like objects. This includes bags, earrings, candlesticks, and ash-tray buckets — many of which take a claw-like figure or motif.
Object Manipulation
Gilon’s interest in car tuning, the manipulation of cars (typically for performance purposes), has a massive influence on her craft. Much of Gilon’s work consists of Ceramic material — stonewall, and porcelain. She intertwines this skill with her appreciation for things that are fantastical and horrifying.
Naomi Gilon x Han Kjøbenhavn
Having previously worked on sculptures, Gilon’s collaboration with menswear brand Han Kjøbenhavn was her first experience with creating wearable art. The collection included leather ‘Creature’ bags along with dresses that literally grip the neck. Both designs incorporating the recurring theme of the monster hand. This collaboration paved the way for the design of ceramic handbags for Gilon.
Fashion Meets Ceramic Handbags
Gilon has become known for her monstrous ceramic handbags. Her work was recognized by Marc Jacobs, where Gilon reimagined several signature pieces by the designer in 2021. The collaboration fostered a reconceptualization of the Snapshot DTM bag, a claw-ified version of the Crinkle Leather Handbag, and a cherry red ceramic Tote Bag.
Currently, Gilon’s online site, The Cowgirl, boasts an array of uniquely crafted clothes, bags, candlesticks, home decor, and more. From earrings made of stone to pots created from Raku, a pottery technique in which the material is removed from the kiln when hot to produce an array of colors, The Cowgirl has something unique to offer at every corner.