Hiscocks biography. Vivienne Becker, 26 June 2008.
As I sit down to write this introduction to Hiscocks, the embryonic brand with its newly energised website, the concept continually slips away from me, so challenging is it to pinpoint or pigeonhole the work of these two designers, both artists in their own right. Yet it seems to me that this intangible quality, its shifting parameters, its cross fertilisation of design disciplines, and overlapping layers of references and meanings, and the new freedom of expression they represent, for both creator and wearer, are in fact the very essence of luxury today.
In a backlash against the homogeneity and dictatorial stance of the traditional brand, and in the escalating quest for intense individuality, new luxury is defined by the art of choice, by emotional engagement and particularly by a personal expression of values and ideas, which is what Anna and David Hiscock do so well. They take jewellery far beyond its usual confines and conventions, playing with its roles, images and associations, experimenting with materials and techniques, exploring its links with femininity and fashion, all, it seems, part of a mission to legitimise the jewel as a modern, multi-media art form.
Anna Hiscock, New Zealand born, originally trained in fashion, which, she says informs her work, and strengthens her understanding of the intimate relationship between the jewel and the body. Her fashion background also originally encouraged her to mix precious materials with silk and snakeskin, juxtaposing hard and soft, the eternal and the ephemeral, and injecting fluidity and texture into her jewels, giving them a certain mystery. But she also brings to her work a huge breadth of experience, from her travels, her upbringing in New Zealand and her adopted urban environments, her expertise in film wardrobe, in couture fashion production, from which she learnt about the use of ravishing, fine materials and perfection of finish.
As polished as her work is, there is something tribal and urban-ethnic about the pieces, the use of powerful, stylised archetypal forms - the shining sun disc, the sleek, slim openwork oval, the pearl encrusted temple roof - and a raw energy that takes jewellery back to its roots as magical, spiritually-imbued object. Anna describes her jewellery as "cool, urban statements and beautiful asides for women who are able to express themselves beyond the prescribed."