Meet Anita Mandal | Jewelry Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anita Mandal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anita, why did you pursue a creative career?
My artistic journey actually began at the age of 5 when I dreamed of becoming a plastic surgeon with a desire to fuse my keen sense of balance and proportion, an artistic eye and the desire to sculpt with my hands. After spending the first 20 years of my career sculpting beautiful faces, it was purely by accident that I discovered my passion for hand carving jeweled mini-sculpsures.

Coming from a background that fuses art, intellect and technical precision allowed me to seamlessly transition from sculpting faces in human form to carving art pieces in jewelry form. This unconventional approach also gives my jewels a unique perspective.

Anita Mandal Jewels celebrates my evolution as an artist, capturing the spectrum of a lifelong creative journey  – as artist, surgeon, intellectual and individualist – what I have been, who I am now and where I am going. It symbolizes the unbridling of my creative vision – a transition from working within the limitations of the human form (as a plastic surgeon) to the boundless freedom of artistic expression that I am able to manifest through my art jewels. It has been a dynamic transformation – like the butterfly coming out of her cocoon.

Accustomed to contouring the face in 3-dimensions, I tend to think more like a sculptor than a jewelry designer. With a focus on creating highly sculptural 3-dimensional art forms with my signature flowing curves, many of my jewels give the illusion of movement. I see my pieces, not so much as jewelry in the traditional sense, but more as gem and diamond-encrusted objets d’art to be worn, revealing an architectural harmony that can be appreciated from all angles.

While the two careers seem worlds apart on the surface, they have much in common. The creation of a complex jewel requires the same visual, technical and problem-solving skills cultivated through my first 20 years as a plastic surgeon. For me, only the medium has changed – from human form to jewelry form.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am constantly pushing my creative boundaries making each piece a masterwork of cerebral curiosity. Being self-taught, I personally hand-carve each complex art jewel, challenging the technical abilities I cultivated as a surgeon. I enjoy carving each piece to perfection instead of passing it on to someone else to carve.

Each bespoke and limited edition piece is designed to speak to it’s wearer – creating a unique emotional connection. I am most drawn to creating mini-sculptures that are timeless, highly individualistic and unapologetic in design and craftsmanship.

I was very content living my passion as a plastic surgeon. Knowing at the age of 5 that I was going to be a surgeon, plastic surgery was a natural choice given my love for aesthetic balance and proportion, the ability to create with my hands and a desire for intellectual challenge.

My love affair with jewelry began innocently and quite unexpectedly after 20 years of being in practice as a plastic surgeon. I had commissioned a bespoke piece from my personal jeweler in Israel. After shipping it to me multiple times, it still would not sit right. So he offered to host me in Israel to have it fitted. But between my plastic surgery practice and the constant speaking engagements around the world at plastic surgery conferences, I had no room in my schedule for a visit. But my jeweler insisted given that I was to be lecturing in near-by Barcelona. Within a day, I managed to seamlessly reschedule an additional week of patients and rearranged my flight and travel plans. The next thing I knew I was on a plane to Israel. The day I arrived, there was this heightened sense of how I unexpectedly came to be here and how exceptionally smoothly the events leading up to this trip had gone in order to make it happen….that there was more to this journey than the mere custom-fitting of my choker. I was overcome with a feeling that, one, I was meant to be here and two, while I didn’t know why, in time, the universe would reveal the reason.

My jeweler booked me a lovely resort hotel and hired a private driver and tour guide to show me around…all this for a 30 minute visit to his design center to have a jewelry fitting.

Since I was visiting his 50,000 SF jewelry design center, I thought I might as well have a few more custom pieces made. There was one particular piece of jewelry that I had been in search of most of life yet still had not found quite the right one.

I never cared much for floral designs but had always been captivated by the Calla lily. It’s clean simple yet elegant contours were unlike any other flower. A long time ago, one of my patients who was a professional photographer presented me with a book filled with photographs she took on her international travels. Seeing my love for this flower, she gifted me with images of the beautiful Calla lily which means magnificent beauty. Whenever I was sculpting a face, I would envision creating the same clean elegant contours I appreciated in the Callalily.

The Callalily was symbolic for me and my ability as a creator, artist and surgeon. Many of my jewels capture the calla lily’s essense.

When I shared with my jeweler the idea of creating several black diamond calla lily pieces, he was intrigued and let me work with his team. So instead of touring Israel, I spent most of the trip working in the design center singularly focused on creating these special pieces. It was here that I first learned of the lost wax method in jewelry design. Upon returning to Palm Beach, I took a basic 4 day wax modeling class and carved a dramatic calla lily lariat. When my jeweler saw it, he invited back to Israel, hosting me once again. I worked long hours with his team to put the models together in one week. Upon returning home, it took nearly 9 months months to manifest the finished piece while I directed them from overseas.

So this is the unexpected manner of how my love affair with jewelry began. It all stemmed from my love for the Callalily and what it signified to me.

The Black Calla lariat was my very first wax carving. Little did I know how complex of a piece I had actually designed. My jeweler kept saying I was gifted, that he has not come across such a natural talent. Given how easy it was for me to create these models, I didn’t really believe him at the time.

What most fascinated me was the intellectual process of creation. How it begins with a silly idea in one’s head, is translated into a more refined mental concept which is expressed through one’s unique visual language to manifest as a finished product. It was not only about coming up with the concept of a design, sketching it on paper, carving it in wax, selecting the stones and gems, but most exhilarating was the problem-solving behind a complex design, the visualization and foresight needed to allow all the colors, forms, textures and contours to come together in harmonious fashion, giving way to a finished piece that flowed and whose craftsmanship could be appreciated from all angles. The more I discovered about this process, the more compelled I felt to learn every aspect of it.

The more I learned, the more I came to see how much creative process required the same visual, aesthetic, technical and problem solving skills that I had cultivated as a plastic surgeon over the last 20 years. My eye for detail, the innate sense of balance and proportion, the intellectual and technical skills used within the human form were simply being applied in jewelery form.

At the age of 5, I knew I was going to be plastic surgeon…and that chosen career was a straight line from which I never wavered. Each day of my life I was grateful to have been blessed with the gift of earning a living by doing what I had loved. Then one day, after having achieved all that I could accomplish in my chosen field, the universe opened a door to a place I never knew existed…and I felt compelled to create the jewels…against the logic of my life…it was like I was that 5 year old little girl all over again who simply knew, with all of her heart, that this is what she was to do. This is why they refer to it as a calling….…you do not choose it…it chooses you. You are driven to it and instinctually know that it is what you must do.

As a plastic surgeon I had reached the pinnacle of success in my practice as well as an international speaker, teacher and lecturer. There really were no challenges left. And while I wasn’t looking for something else to do, I think the fact that things were at a happy status quo created room in my mind, allowed me to be receptive to the jewelry when it did come along. This is what I meant by evolving as an artist, as a creator actually. It’s very different from the rigid rules I was used to as a plastic surgeon. With the jewels, my imagination has very few limits…there’s incredible freedom for creative expression…I think when it happened, I was ready for it – it was nearly seamless.

For me, there is a distinct difference between artistry and creativity. An artist does not necessarily evolve, but it is the natural progression of a creative person to grow, to experiment, to challenge themselves. As Albert Einstein pointed out – creative people push themselves to go beyond their comfort zones. They think outside the box and are problem-solvers. These qualities serve as a foundation for innovation.

The kind of challenges I deal with now are, to a large extent, self-imposed. I’m focused on some complex designs that are challenging to manifest into reality. It often entails a considerable amount of problem-solving, visualization and technical expertise. I have some very talented and experienced people working with me, but they are not used to thinking outside the box and not with my 3-dimensional mind-set. It can be challenging to come to a meeting of the minds as they come from one direction and I come at it often from the opposite direction. We eventually always get there, but it’s rarely in the expected time frame.

Another challenge is the internal tug of war I face with wanting to stay true to my aesthetic vision and creative philosophy for the jewels. There’s pressure to mass produce, repeat designs and follow the typical consignment model of the industry, none of which I am enthused about. So I’m constantly thinking through how to balance my vision for the type of jewels I want to create with the various aspects of running a jewelry business.

As you know, jewelry design has traditionally focused the center stone and it’s monetary value with the design being secondary. In recent years, we’ve seen a trend that is more design-oriented. But despite the emphasis on design, the value is diminished by mass production and repetitious themes –  floral, nature, animals and the list goes on.

I feel there is a need in the industry to create pieces where the gems and the design work synergistically to result in jewels with greater aesthetic relevance. This requires more than an in-depth understanding of the stones, materials and techniques. It entails more than a knowledge of how to incorporate various shapes, sizes, colors and textures to achieve architectural balance. Of higher relevance is the carefully considered thought process and mental construct behind the design. This is what can elevate the jewel’s intrinsic value so that it is perceived more as an authentic art form that transcends the financial value of the center gem or individual design components.

My approach is unconventional in that I’m untouched by the norms and traditions of the jewelry industry. Not having learned the “rules” makes it easier for me to think outside the box to create designs as well as come up with solutions for complex pieces. The late Alexander McQueen used to say “You’ve got to know the rules to break them.” I once told a friend: “Maybe I should learn some of the rules to jewelry design.” She responded with: “Why do u want to learn the rules? You are just going to break them.” I suppose if you haven’t bothered to learn the “rules”, you have nothing to break.

I come from a background that requires a sharp eye for detail, a keen sense of balance, proportion and technical perfectionism. From an aesthetic standpoint, those are the principles I have lived by and infuse into each and every jewel.

As as individualist who is unafraid to go against the norm, I am a firm believer in the co-existence of the feminine and the masculine, of softness and strength, of tradition with forward-thinking. This multifaceted, paradoxical harmony should be celebrated. I want my jewels to embody this philosophy in visual form. I strive to make even the most delicately, feminine jewels audacious and unapologetically individualistic.

I enjoy defying the norm and to make each design different from the next….I prefer challenge to myself – challenge my creativity. As Albert Einstein once said “creativity is intelligence having fun”…and that is exactly where I am now in my life…my intelligence is having fun –  without the limitations that come from working in the human form.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I had one week to show my best friend around, I would line up an itinerary with visits to interesting art galleries; dinner at eclectic restaurants from palm beach to miami; a few shows at local theatres; a visit to the zoo and a stroll on the beach to connect with nature; a spa day for 2 to include facials, massages and manicures; and another day to visit with local friends and family. The ideal visit would be a diverse experience which was also relaxing, eclectic and fun – one that appealed to one’s culinary senses and provided artistic inspiration and a connection with nature.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my late father, Jitendra Mandal. He always encouraged me to pursue my passion and taught me that the sky was the limit to what I could achieve. It is because of him that I have always pursued my life’s passion, which has been to stay aligned with my inner creativity, staying on an artistic path and continuing to evolve as an artist.

Additionally, being diagnosed with best cancer earlier this year, I came to appreciate how precious life is and how important it is to nourish our inner selves. I successfully completed my treatments and am back on track with my creative life journey. I would like to dedicate my shout out to all the breast cancer survivors and for them to know that you are not alone in your journey – that life can continue to be fulfilling.

Website: www.anitamandaljewels.com

Instagram: anitamandalartjewels

Other: Email: concierge@anitamandalartjewels.com