Jewellery artist Cindy Chao marked 20 pioneering years in the industry with a retrospective at Taipei’s Fubon Art Museum – and Matthew McConaughey and Michelle Yeoh wore her pieces to the 2024 Oscars

Nov 29 , 2024

Jewellery artist Cindy Chao marked 20 years in the industry with a retrospective at Taipei’s Fubon Art Museum – and Matthew McConaughey and Michelle Yeoh wore her pieces to this year’s Oscars. Photo: Handout

Chao’s pieces have been displayed at prestigious institutions and earned her France’s Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters; creations on show in Taipei included a Sarah Jessica Parker collaboration

Taiwanese jewellery artist Cindy Chao is a force to be reckoned with. And, since founding her eponymous brand – Cindy Chao The Art Jewel – two decades ago, she has catapulted her way to international stardom.

At this year’s Oscars, both Michelle Yeoh and Matthew McConaughey wore pieces from the designer’s White Label collection. Yeoh donned a pair of spectacular Diamond Foliage earrings, while McConaughey sported a Yellow Diamond Ribbon brooch with his burgundy tux.

Cindy Chao’s 2007 Black Label Masterpiece Winter Branch necklace. Photo: Handout

Chao’s sculptural jewellery pieces have been featured at auctions, fairs, and prestigious institutions such as London’s Victoria & Albert Museum and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. In Asia, her museum-like gallery at Regent Taipei houses an array of wearable masterpieces – some encased, with others part of an innovative “gravity-free” showcase.

In 2021, Chao became the first Asian jewellery artist to receive the prestigious Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters), one of France’s top honours. Further cementing her pioneering place in the industry, she was also invited as guest artist instructor to Paris’ Haute École de Joaillerie last January, to share her knowledge and expertise in wax sculpture.

Cindy Chao’s “Twenty Years in Art: A Retrospective Journey” exhibition in Taipei. Photo: Handout

Chao celebrated yet another milestone this year – her brand’s 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the designer hosted her first retrospective exhibition, “Twenty Years in Art: A Retrospective Journey”, at Taipei’s Fubon Art Museum from November 24 to 26. The showcase featured three chapters reflecting Chao’s journey as an artist: Emergence, Taking Wing and Artistic Mastery.

Housed within the museum space, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, the exhibition displayed never-before-seen pieces – many on loan from various collectors – and some of Chao’s earlier monochromatic work, such as the 2007 Black Label Masterpiece Winter Branch necklace and bangle. The retrospective illustrates how Chao’s meticulous attention to detail and lifelike realism were evident even in the earliest years of her artistic journey.

The 2013-14 Black Label Masterpiece I Ballerina Butterfly brooch, a collaboration between Cindy Chao and Sarah Jessica Parker. Photo: Handout

Other notable creations on show included the Black Label Masterpiece I Ballerina Butterfly brooch from the 2013-14 collection, a collaboration with Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker. The diamond-encrusted piece took two years to complete and beautifully depicts a ballerina in motion. In 2014, Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold it at auction for more than double its estimated price.

More exhibition highlights included Chao’s 20th anniversary capsule collection, which is themed around three of the jewellery artist’s signature motifs – the Four Seasons Leaves, the dragonfly and the feather – and the 2016 Black Label Masterpiece IX Winter Leaves necklace. This particular piece received widespread acclaim at the 2019 “Masterpiece London” exhibition and weighs only 78.7 grams, despite its technical intricacies and complex design.