Monique Péan

Monique Péan
Born	circa 1981 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation(s)	Jewelry designer, sculptor, painter, furniture designer
Years active	2005–present
Known for	Fine jewelry using sustainable materials, sculpture, painting, furniture design

Monique Péan (born circa 1981) is an American creator renowned for her work in fine jewelry, sculpture, painting, and furniture design. Operating from her studio in New York City, she explores concepts such as space, temporality, identity, and origins, incorporating materials like fossils, meteorites, and recycled metals with a sustainable focus.

Early life and education

Péan was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Great Falls, Virginia. Her father, originally from Haiti, worked as a senior economist at the World Bank and served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, which allowed her to experience over 20 countries during her upbringing, including Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and Bulgaria. Her mother is an impressionist painter of landscapes and portraits with Jewish heritage tracing back to Russia and Poland. Péan attended an international school in Washington, before earning her degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003.

Work

Following graduation, Péan began her career as an analyst on the fixed income desk at Goldman Sachs in New York City. She departed from finance in 2005 after the passing of her younger sister and turned to jewelry-making as a form of healing. Combining her enthusiasm for travel and art, she sought out global artisans to learn their techniques and collaborate with them. A journey to the Arctic Circle introduced her to ancient walrus tusk fossils, sparking her interest in utilizing age-old materials.

In 2006, she unveiled her inaugural fine jewelry collection crafted from sustainably obtained resources such as fossils and ethically sourced diamonds. Due to environmental concerns surrounding gold mining waste, she exclusively selected recycled gold and platinum for her pieces. Her sculptural creations attracted attention from publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for their innovative use of materials including fossilized walrus ivory, dinosaur bone, and meteorite fragments.

In 2016, Péan contributed fine jewelry designs to the film La La Land, working alongside director Damien Chazelle, costume designer Mary Zophres, and actress Emma Stone. Her jewelry has been worn by prominent personalities such as Michelle Obama, Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kerry Washington, Naomi Watts, Lupita Nyong'o, Mahershala Ali, and John Legend. Notably, First Lady Jill Biden donned custom earrings by Péan during the 46th Presidential inauguration in January 2021.

Paintings

Beginning in 2012, Péan ventured into painting inspired by her Sut’ana series. She employed enlarged photographs of fossils on expansive canvases, emphasizing their complex patterns while painting over them to replicate the reflective and translucent qualities of the fossils. By 2021, she developed pigments derived from fossilized dinosaur bone fragments that were ground into powder and combined with water and gum arabic.

Sculpture

From 2019 onward, Péan concentrated on sculpture by crafting box-like "vessels" made of steel and bronze designed to house—and artistically engage with—meteorite pieces. The Sikhote-Alin Vessel (2019) incorporates fragments of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite that fell in Russia in 1947; it is intended for tactile interaction by viewers. She partnered with a metal fabricator who had previously worked with Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt. Beyond sculpture and painting, Péan also creates furniture and functional items such as textiles by collaborating with traditional craftspeople to bring her designs to life.

In 2021, Péan was featured among 50 contemporary artists in the Objects: USA 2020 exhibition held at R & Company in New York, co-curated by Glenn Adamson. This exhibition revived the seminal 1969 Objects USA show that celebrated leading craftspeople of that century; three of her sculptures—including Sikhote-Alin Vessel—were included. Additionally, she participated in the Museum of Arts and Design's "In the MAD Loupe" lecture series discussing her work. Her creations have been exhibited at prestigious art and design fairs such as Art Basel Miami, PAD Art + Design, and Object & Thing.

Péan appears in Coveted by Melanie Grant of The Economist, a publication examining the artistic influence of fine jewelry through narratives and interviews with top jewelers.

Themes and process

One of the central motifs in Péan's creations is the concept of "deep time," where she incorporates fossils and meteorites that are billions of years old to evoke a sense of temporal journey for observers or wearers. By integrating these ancient natural elements, her objective is to merge time and space into a singular experience. Péan carefully harmonizes the raw, organic surfaces with precise geometric forms.

Her travels also serve as a significant source of inspiration, influencing her through the variety of terrains, architectural styles, artistic expressions, and cultural traditions encountered. When acquiring materials, she partners with scientific experts to guarantee both authenticity and environmental responsibility. The craftsmanship behind her pieces is carried out by skilled artisans worldwide, frequently collaborating with indigenous groups who possess deep ancestral knowledge about these resources—for example, Inupiaq Alaskan communities for fossilized walrus ivory, Rapa Nui artisans for obsidian, and craftsmen descended from the Mayan culture for Guatemalan jade.

Other work and roles

Péan holds a position on the women's council at the Dia Art Foundation and has co-established programs aimed at advancing minority professionals' careers through mentorship opportunities and networking platforms.

Her involvement extends to political campaigns where she designed merchandise items: a t-shirt for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign under the Made for History initiative and an embroidered "Unity" face mask featured in the Believe in Better merchandise collection for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s 2020 campaign.

Philanthropy

Since its inception, Péan has been an active supporter of Charity:Water, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing clean drinking water to developing regions. She allocates a portion of her studio’s earnings to back their efforts. From 2006 onward, Péan has financed water and sanitation projects in nations such as Malawi, Nepal, and Haiti. In 2015, she introduced a limited fine jewelry line inspired by Walter De Maria's 1979 artwork The Broken Kilometer, with all proceeds directed toward the Dia Art Foundation and its initiatives.

Awards

In 2009, Péan was honored as a finalist for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, receiving $50,000 alongside business mentorship support. She was also awarded the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award. Two years later, in 2011, she secured both the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and Tiffany & Co. development grants. Additionally, in 2015 she was recognized with Wallpaper's Best Jewelry Design Award.

External links

• Time Sensitive interview featuring Monique Péan