Under the Surface
Words by Emily Howes for Lexus Magazine

Jeweller Bic Tieu has something special to show she wants to show me.
We’re in Mother Chu’s Vegetarian Kitchen a haven for a decent feed in the scruffy end of Sydney’s Pitt Street. After unpacking tissue paper from a small box, she leans forward with purposeful eye contact and holds in her fingertips a ring.

It is exquisite: bold and geometric in form yet organic and graceful in detail. a filigree basket of foliage in white gold is mounted on a simple band, supporting a bulbous disc bearing the stylised image of a flower in black and pink. It’s an assertive presence on the hand, something to be worn with eyes twinkling to match its circle of black diamonds. It’s also the culmination of two years of intensive learning in the traditional Japanese lacquer studio of Unryuan Kitamura Tatsuo, and the first taste of Tieu’s vision to take this rarefied art form into uncharted territory.