About Elaine Chong

I have always believed that the most meaningful things we own carry something of the maker inside them. A stone chosen with intention. A symbol worn close to the body. A painting that holds the color of a place you've never been but somehow recognize.

I am a jewelry designer and a painter, two practices that have always fed each other. The color in a painting becomes the enamel in a pendant. The symbol on a canvas becomes the motif on a ring. One studio. Two practices. Everything connected.

My work begins far from my studio. In the markets of India, the workshops of Morocco, I seek out the makers and materials that have been putting meaning into objects for centuries. I bring it all home to Summit, New Jersey, where it finds its way into my jewelry and my paintings.

Every piece is rooted in ritual. The repeated mark. The object worn close to the body. The meaning carried quietly in something made by hand.

I hold an MFA from Montclair State University and have studied at Cooper Union, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, the Printmaking Center of NJ, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. My work has been exhibited nationally and featured in JCK and National Jeweler magazine.

My studio is open for commissions. I'd love to make something for you.