Month: January 2026

Quiet Strength: One Rapelana of Xita on Jewelry, Identity, and the Art of Self-Discovery

We sat down with One Rapelana, a 2025 OFTF Honoree and award-winning multidisciplinary designer from Botswana, to explore her journey and creative vision. Since beginning her practice in 2015, she has transformed discarded materials into bold, experimental jewellery and accessories. What started as a passion project grew into Xita, officially registered as a full-time company in 2018. Today, Rapelana works with leather remnants and reclaimed brass, crafting pieces that are both minimal and striking, each reflecting a personal narrative of growth, identity, and self-discovery. Rooted in sustainability, craftsmanship, and intuition, her work elevates overlooked materials into wearable art that encourages reflection, celebrates individuality, and challenges conventional notions of adornment.

Introducing Xita: The Journey Begins

NYCJW: Can you introduce us to Xita and the story behind your work?

OR: Xita is a contemporary jewelry and accessories brand rooted in self-discovery and thoughtful design. I create sculptural pieces using materials like brass and leather, exploring the space between art, craft, and identity. Each piece reflects a quiet strength, challenging traditional ideas of African adornment through minimal, expressive forms.

Materials & Inspirations: The Heart of the Work

NYCJW: Your work shows a thoughtful relationship with materials. Are there any projects or materials you’ve held back from exploring?

OR: One idea I’ve intentionally put on hold is working with wood as a secondary material. I’m deeply drawn to its warmth, history, and tactile quality, but I don’t yet feel ready to engage with it in the way it deserves. Working with wood requires a different rhythm, deeper technical understanding, and a sensitivity to its natural behavior that I’m still developing. I see it as a material I want to approach with respect and patience, when I’m ready to fully explore its possibilities, not rush it. For now, I’m allowing my practice to evolve naturally through materials like brass and leather, knowing that when the time is right, wood will become part of the conversation.

NYCJW: Inspiration can come from unexpected sources. What non-traditional influences are shaping your work right now?

OR: Lately, I’ve been deeply drawn to classic bossa nova, its rhythm, subtlety, and effortless elegance. There’s something about the way it balances softness with sophistication, intimacy with movement, that resonates with how I want my work to feel. I imagine this influence entering my pieces through form and material: subtle curves, gentle weight, and a quiet sense of rhythm in how a piece sits on the body or moves. It’s less about literal reference and more about capturing that feeling of ease, warmth, and understated confidence in the jewelry I create.

Expanding the Medium: Beyond Jewelry

NYCJW: If your approach to form and material could translate into a different medium, how would it manifest?

OR: If my work were to exist in another medium, it would be furniture and sculptural objects. Translating those shapes into chairs or large-scale wall pieces feels like a natural extension of that language. Furniture allows the body to interact with form in a slower, more grounded way, while sculpture gives space for the pieces to exist purely as expressions of material, balance, and intention. Both would allow me to explore scale, permanence, and physical dialogue, turning what is worn into something that can be inhabited, rested on, or lived with.

Challenging Expectations: Breaking the Mold

NYCJW: You challenge traditional ideas in African jewelry. Are there beliefs or conventions in your field that you disagree with?

OR: One belief I quietly challenge is the idea that African jewelry must look a certain way bold colors, heavy ornamentation, and instantly recognizable “ethnic” motifs. While those aesthetics are important, they don’t define the full spectrum of African creativity. My work questions the notion that African design has to be visually loud or rooted only in traditional symbolism. I believe it can also be minimal, tactile, and quietly expressive, informed by heritage, but not confined to it. Inspiration can come just as easily from everyday objects, materials, and lived experience as from cultural references. For me, authenticity lies in freedom of expression, not in meeting expectations of what African design should look like.

Doubt & Evolution: Moments of Growth

NYCJW: Evolution often brings doubt. Can you describe a recent moment of creative uncertainty, and how you navigated it?

OR: The last moment of real creative doubt came when my aesthetic began to shift. I started my practice creating bold, statement pieces, work that was loud, expressive, and very visibly “there.” Over time, though, my instinct began moving toward something quieter: subtler forms but still bold, restraint, and a more refined use of materials like brass and leather. I questioned whether this evolution would be understood or accepted, especially because my earlier work had been associated with a more overt, “Afro-futuristic” visual language that people often expect from African jewelry. Moving away from that felt risky. I worried that the subtlety might be mistaken for a loss of identity rather than an evolution of it. I moved through that doubt by trusting my intuition and allowing the work to mature naturally. I realized that boldness doesn’t always need to shout, it can exist in restraint, in material choice, in intention. Once I accepted that my practice could grow quietly, the work began to feel more honest and more aligned with who I am now.

Storytelling Through Design

NYCJW: If you could design a piece for a historical figure or fictional character, who would it be?

OR: I would create a piece for Josephine Baker, not the version of her that’s often reduced to spectacle, but the layered woman behind it: the artist, the activist, the strategist, the one constantly navigating visibility and power. The work would be a sculptural adornment ,somewhere between jewellery and object made from brass and leather, with subtle movement built into it. Something that speaks to duality: softness and strength, performance and privacy, beauty and resistance. It wouldn’t be loud or decorative for its own sake. Instead, it would hold quiet symbolism ,surfaces worn by touch, forms that feel lived-in, reflecting how she carried both glamour and resilience in equal measure. I imagine it as something worn close to the body, almost like armour disguised as elegance. A piece that honours complexity rather than spectacle, much like her life itself.

Engaging the Wearer: Experience & Emotion

NYCJW: When someone wears or interacts with your work, what feeling or experience do you hope it evokes?

OR: I want someone engaging with my work to feel a sense of presence and intentionality, that each piece was made with care, thought, and purpose. I hope it gives them permission to slow down, reflect, and connect with themselves through what they wear. My jewelry and accessories are meant to be more than adornment; they’re prompts for self-discovery. I hope they inspire people to trust their own instincts, embrace subtlety as strength, and explore their own identity without feeling the need to perform or conform. Ultimately, I want the work to feel like a companion, bold enough to be noticed, but gentle enough to invite personal resonance.

NYCJW: Is there a question you wish people asked more often about your work?

OR: One question I wish more people would ask is: “What collaboration would you love to do, or who would you like to work with?” I would love to collaborate with a museum to explore the translation of my jewelry into larger sculptural pieces, as well as smaller wearable ones. I’m fascinated by how my forms, already sculptural and architectural at a small scale, could inhabit different spaces, from the body to the home or gallery, creating new dialogues between material, form, and experience.

Recurring Gestures: Signatures & Themes

NYCJW: Looking across your collections, are there recurring gestures, themes, or emotions that appear, even subtly?

OR: A recurring element in my work is how I fold leather into ropes, usually in twos or threes, wrapping around a focal material like brass or another piece of leather. It’s almost subconscious, I don’t have a conscious reason for it, and that’s why it keeps appearing. It’s just part of my style, a gesture I naturally gravitate toward, and over time it has become a quiet signature. Alongside this, a broader theme in my work is the journey of self-discovery. Collections like Echoes of Transcendence explore self-evolution, Returning Home reflects coming back to yourself, and Seed of Growth is about growing into the woman you were meant to be.

In addition to her work with Xita, One Rapelana recently participated in a virtual panel during NYCJW25, hosted by the Jewellery and Gem Association of Africa (JGAA). The discussion, part of the “It’s All In Our Hands” jewelry competition, brought together African designers to share their experiences at GEM Genève, one of the world’s leading industry exhibitions. Rapelana and her fellow panelists highlighted how JGAA’s support has helped showcase African talent on an international stage, discussing both the opportunities and challenges faced by artisans. The conversation underscored Africa’s growing influence in the global jewelry industry and the transformative power of global exposure, offering insight into how designers like Rapelana are shaping a new narrative of creativity, sustainability, and cultural expression.

About One for the Future (OFTF)
One for the Future celebrates visionary designers shaping the next generation of jewelry and creative industries. Each year, honorees are recognized for their innovation, craftsmanship, and unique perspectives, gaining opportunities for mentorship, exposure, and connection with collectors and industry leaders worldwide.

Enjoyed this piece? Explore more jewelry content from Future Heirloom!

Jewelry as a Device for Becoming: Viola Pineider of ARC

Jewelry, for Viola Pineider, is not just an ornament. It is a proposition—a way of thinking through the body, material, and space as sites of continuous transformation. Born and raised in Florence, she trained for over a decade in traditional Italian carpentry and wood restoration. This background gives her rare material intelligence, grounded in rigor, patience, and deep respect for craft.

As the founder of ARC, she works at the threshold of jewelry and sculpture. She transforms reclaimed wood and silver into bold, architectural pieces that challenge conventional ideas of luxury and permanence. Now based in Rio de Janeiro, her work balances the disciplined lines of Italian design with the fluid, experimental energy of Brazilian culture. A 2025 OFTF Award Honoree, Pineider is part of a new generation redefining contemporary jewelry. We sat down with her to talk about transformation, slow making, material resistance, and jewelry as a device for becoming.

Defining Practice

NYCJW: How would you describe your practice and the world your work inhabits?

VP: My work moves between two complementary worlds: the body and space, where jewelry becomes sculpture and sculpture becomes jewelry. I have a long background in Italian carpentry, so my work is a synthesis of solid technical training and a visionary approach. I transform reclaimed wood into pieces that invite tactile journeys. Each creation balances dynamic shapes with impeccable finishes. For me, jewelry is a powerful escape from societal standardization. It is a way to reimagine the body as ever-changing and full of possibility.

Projects in Waiting

NYCJW: Are there projects or pieces you’ve put on hold? How do you know when the time is right for them to come to life?

VP: Actually I have kept several projects on hold. Sometimes due to lack of time, because they were large-scale works or required travel and significant financial investment. But they are waiting for me. I always return to older projects; they are never forgotten. There is a right time for them to materialize. There is one sculpture in particular that I rushed to finish for a very relevant open call, but due to its fragility it was not possible to submit it to the competition. Still, it exists, and it will find another place in my professional trajectory.

Imagining Beyond Form

NYCJW: If your practice weren’t limited to jewelry or sculpture, what other medium do you imagine your work taking?

VP: My work would be a lyrical piece of music that, out of nowhere, turns into noise-industrial, then glides softly into an R&B atmosphere, ending with the drums of a carnival party. A convergence of opposing sensations: intimacy and repulsion, stillness and rhythm, balance and exuberance.

Challenging the System

NYCJW: Is there a prevailing belief or convention in the jewelry or design world that you challenge?

VP: I disagree with a system that fails to respect the quality of work and instead favors visibility, closed circles, and networks of favoritism over merit and research. I do not believe that one should devalue their own work to sell more. I also reject the logic of constantly launching new collections in a market already saturated with objects. I deeply believe in slow production. It is a way to reclaim time, attention, and quality—not as a marketing strategy, but as an ethical and political stance toward making. Producing less, with greater rigor and awareness, is, for me, a form of resistance.

Creative Doubt as Dialogue

NYCJW: Can you share a recent moment of real creative doubt and how you navigated through it?

VP: As an artist, I experience creative doubt continuously. This does not stem from a lack of creativity, but from having to engage with the problems that matter itself presents, as well as with unforeseen situations. Pieces can break and so can patience. Fatigue is sometimes intense, and doubt often emerges less from the work itself than from questions of purpose and market strategy. For me, creative doubt is not a blockage but a negotiation. I move through it by staying with the process, allowing the material to lead and accepting failure as part of the work. I do not experience a lack of creativity; I am creating all the time. Even moments of uncertainty inevitably take me somewhere else, to another solution, another form, another understanding.

Designing for the Imaginary

NYCJW: If you had the chance to design a piece for a fictional or historical figure, who would it be? How would you imagine it taking shape?

VP: I imagine a female figure who belongs simultaneously to the past and to the future. I see her positioned atop an installation. It is a tall, subtle sculpture that elevates her above everything, granting her a 360-degree view. On her arms and around her neck, she wears jewelry as if it were a shell. A layer of protection and, at the same time, an expansion of the body. From the ends of the bracelets and necklaces extend long filaments, reminiscent of tentacles, sensory extensions that help her float in the air and swim through water.

Material as Narrative

NYCJW: Are there unconventional materials, objects, or ideas that are currently inspiring you?

VP: I have always chosen wood as the central material in my work, despite feeling a strong attraction to glass and metal, precisely because of their almost alchemical properties and because they present qualities opposite to those of wood. These materials often remain in the realm of observation and inspiration, without necessarily being incorporated into the process. What happens instead is that I end up pushing the limits of wood, bringing it closer to metal through form, or to glass through fragility. I am interested in exploring how far a material can go when taken to the extreme of its symbolic and structural possibilities.

The texts and readings that permeate my creative universe come from contemporary and modern thinkers who reflect on the construction of other possibilities of existence, on transformation, and on the imagination of alternative worlds. Authors such as Donna Haraway, Ailton Krenak, Rosi Braidotti, and Ursula K. Le Guin are among the references that continuously nourish my work. Science fiction, as well as trans-feminist thought, imagines other bodies: bodies in mutation and, at the same time, bodies that reclaim an ancient wisdom that has largely been replaced or erased. In this tension, I see a key for thinking about a new way of understanding bodily adornment,not as ornament, but as a device for transformation, adaptation, and the re-enchantment of the body.

Provoking Questions

NYCJW: When someone experiences your work, what feelings or reflections do you hope it sparks?

VP: I would like the work to provoke questions and uncertainties. However, when we work with art, it is not possible to control the reactions, interpretations, or sensations it awakens in the audience. The experience of the work is completed precisely within this open, unpredictable field, where each body and each gaze produces its own meanings.

NYCJW: What’s one question you wish more people would ask you about your work?

VP: I would like the questions to address the process and how I arrived at a given result. I believe this would help the public understand the complexity of the work. This process is not limited to the stages carried out in the studio. It involves the creative journey as a whole. The collection of the wood, which in most cases comes from dumpsters, urban waste, or demolition materials. If it were possible to follow the origin of the material, one would understand how visionary the work is, beyond its technical execution. To observe the structure of a discarded door, dirty covered in layers of paint, and still imagine another possibility of existence is a central gesture of the work. It is about transformation: imagining solutions, projecting other uses, other bodies, other worlds.

Transformation, Movement, Sensuality

NYCJW: Looking across your body of work, is there a recurring theme, idea, or emotion that continues to surface? What draws you back to it?

VP: The recurring theme in my work revolves around transformation, movement, and sensuality. The forms I create are twisted and hollowed out, sometimes organic, sometimes sharp and geometric. They operate within a field of tension between seduction and repulsion. This contrast reflects an underlying conflict between a rational origin of form, inherited from a Western mode of thinking in which I was raised, and my lived experience in Brazil, where the straight line dissolves and gives way to curves, circles, and spiral structures.

We’re grateful to Viola Pineider for sharing her insights, inspirations, and creative journey. Through ARC, she continues to redefine the boundaries between jewelry and sculpture. She transforms reclaimed materials, form, and perception into pieces that invite exploration, reflection, and transformation. Her thoughtful, visionary approach reminds us that jewelry is not just adornment. It is a device for becoming—a way to reimagine the body, the material, and the world around us.

About One for the Future (OFTF)
One for the Future celebrates visionary designers shaping the next generation of jewelry and creative industries. Each year, honorees are recognized for their innovation, craftsmanship, and unique perspectives, gaining opportunities for mentorship, exposure, and connection with collectors and industry leaders worldwide.

Enjoyed this piece? Explore more jewelry content from Future Heirloom!