Comb

Comb was inspired by the jewelry of René Lalique, particularly his hair combs and diadems held in the collection at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. Lalique had a remarkable life in which he excelled at two distinct careers: first, as an exclusive jewelry designer and later, as a designer of commercial glassware. Just before the turn of the century, Lalique began to exhibit his jewels at Siegfried Bing’s Paris gallery La Maison de l’Art Nouveau. Later the term ‘Art Nouveau’ came to describe the modern sensitivity his work exhibited. Lalique’s fascination with nature and Japanese art reflect the ideals of the Art Nouveau movement, which in reaction to ‘academic’ art focused on structures derived from plants, insects, birds, and landscapes. Lalique’s combs and diadems in the Gulbenkian collection teem with these forms. Lalique is credited with introducing horn, which he appreciated for its malleability and transparency, as a new medium for jewelry. His curving combs impressed me with their delicate strength and bold designs that hybridize natural and artificial elements. These abstract qualities, and visual images of Lalique’s combs, have inspired string textures that “comb” through harmonic material spun out of the opening motto. Lalique’s jewels have stimulated a lush, lyrical sound world, in which the members of the quartet form a fantastic new comb. Structurally, the viola and cello make up the shaft, or backbone of the metaphorical comb, whereas the violins fulfill the role of the more delicate teeth.