Peter Pan Complex
By Kimberly Rene’ Vanecek
When one mentions the Peter Pan your reminiscent of a mischievous boy who never ages. A young lad that freely flew the skies, draped in a green tunic, tights, a hat, and roamed around without a worry in the world.
That’s the exact theme of Victor Beckmann’s latest line of jewelry. “Growing up, my friends would all say they were afraid of the boogie man. I would say I was afraid of growing up. I always wanted to stay this age, “ stated Beckmann.
Beckmann clutched to his childhood, by designing a series of jewelry that function as games…a slingshot, a tag game, hop scotch, a bubble blower, and a jump rope. Each creative piece was intended to engage the users inner child, thus allowing for the jewelry to serve a duplicity of functions…wear fashionable jewelry and have fun while doing so.
Take for example the silver chain that is used as a necklace, it dangles from the neck but you can place it in both hands and start jumping around like you did when you were in grade school. The geometric sterling silver bracelet is uniquely designed with a piece of white charcoal anchored in the side, so whenever you fancy, stop and create your blocks and begin with your friends, the game of hop scotch.
The slingshot is also worn as a necklace and made of a lost wax casting method with sterling silver and star sapphires. Instead of rocks to use as ammunition when you were a younster, Beckmann gathered unfinished raw gem like garnets, peridots, and amethysts. Those gems were stored in a bracelet worn around the wrist yet easily accessible to use when necessary.
Victor is a recent Art graduate of UTEP and when asked if he is ready to mass produce his pieces, Beckmann noted, “I don’t really like to mass produce. When I design a line I like to make each piece more unique or special. A production line dilutes it.”
The wittiness of Victor’s playful pieces currently earned him an exhibition in the Franz Meyer Museum in Mexico City, with a show to follow in the Velvet DaVinci in San Fransisco later this summer.
Photographed by Jorge Calleja