Meet the Jeweller - Carolyn Morris Bach

For June's Meet the Jeweller feature, we had the pleasure of speaking to Carolyn Morris Bach, a jeweller from the US who creates figurative pieces combining precious metals with more unusual materials such as bone and ebony.

Your work feels very rooted in ancient iconography. Are there particular historical periods, cultures, or folk traditions that continue to inspire you? 

I think my work has always been very eclectic and borrows from many different cultures. Perhaps I most align with Inuit carvings. Since the early 90’s I have been creating human and animal forms from bone, fossil ivory and ebony, and they continue to be the backbone of my work.

You mention being surrounded by forests and pastures in Southern Rhode Island - how does your natural environment influence the shapes, textures, and imagery in your work? 

My environment is totally responsible for what I create. I live in the middle of 60 wooded acres and see the natural world from every window. I started my “signature”  figurative work when I moved here in 1991. I am drawn to the colors of the woods, and often depict human forms with animal faces and visa versa. My most repeated forms are owls, birds, fox, bear, deer and rabbits…all creatures that actually share the woods with me.




How did your time at Rhode Island School of Design shape your journey as a jeweller? 

I’m actually not sure if it did. I learned my rudimentary skills while in high school, and then found my own way of doing things once I graduated from RISD. Rhode Island School of Design is the most famous art school in America. If anything, it lends a pedigree and greater respect for those who pass through. My years at RISD certainly shaped my journey as a person.

Your jewellery combines materials like 18k gold, silver, and copper alongside jasper, petrified wood, bone, and ebony. What attracts you to unconventional natural materials? 

I find them more interesting than traditional jewelry materials. 

My pieces generally start with the stone I plan to use. I often look at the colors and patterns in a particular specimen and it’s so obvious what needs to be added. My studio is never “tidy” and there are stones on every surface. My thought is I need to see them to think. If they are tucked away in my stone cabinet I don’t see them.

Your jewellery is very sculptural. Do you think of your pieces more as adornment, art objects, or something in between?

I have actually never seen my work as adornment. I am an object lover. My collectors are very passionate about my pieces and feel they are talismans. I am humbled by the comments they share with me about the connection they feel with my objects. It’s an honor to create a small object that seems to have so much power for someone.

Your work has been collected by institutions including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the New York Museum of Arts and Design. How does it feel seeing your work enter museum collections? 

It’s certainly an honor to be included in permanent collections. It allows my work to live on long after I’m gone. I also think of all the things I have seen in museums that have shaped me as an artist. I hope many will be inspired by what I have created.

What keeps you creatively inspired after decades of making? 

Making objects is my entire life. It’s said one should have a balanced life, but mine has always been 100% creating. I don’t see it as work. It’s an extension of who I am.

Is there a particular piece you’ve created that feels especially personal or representative of your artistic journey?

All of my figurative pieces are autobiographical, so I couldn’t say there was any one in particular.

Looking ahead, are there new materials, themes or directions you’re excited to explore in future collections?

Creating is a very organic process and I never know what is going to suggest a new direction. I was very excited a couple of years ago when I was working with high karat gold and gemstones. It pushes your skills as a jewelry maker, and the colors of the stones and richness of the gold is very satisfying. However, I am typecast and my collectors crave the figurative work. If the price of gold ever stabilizes, I would like to create more of that type of work.