Hot stuff for the spring & summer......
Jessica Kagan Cushman

As the daughter of renowned furniture designer Vladimir Kagan and needlework queen Erica Wilson design runs in her veins, so it seems only natural that Jessica Cushman’s work is totally unique and fresh. Having learned scrimshaw from her father, who took up the craft in the 1960’s in Nantucket, Jessica has taken the artform to a new (and slightly un-orthodox) level – creating scrimshawed antique ivory bracelets that lie somewhere between a tattoo and a bumper sticker. Historically practiced by sailors on long journeys hunting for whales, scrimshaw traditionally depicted whaling scenes, ships, women and scenes copied from magazines of the day. Jessica takes quotes and phrases, from movies, literature and in some cases, New York graffiti and transcribes them via scrimshaw onto fossilized wooly mammoth ivory bracelets – combing a venerable traditional craft with wry, modern wit.

Prices range from $32 to $323