About Suman Mishra
Suman Mishra is a Delhi-based jewelry designer, who works directly with artisans and creates authentic hand-crafted pieces. Her diverse past – Masters in Social Work (TISS, Mumbai), Publishing work, Social Research experience, selling homemade sandwiches out of the boot of her car , Journalism – has been the journey that led up to her tryst with silver jewelry.
After about 4 years of trading in jewelry (since 2003), Mishra set up her own design label “Suman Mishra Jewelry” about 3 years ago. Like any designer, everything around her informs her creative process. Being a Buddhist, Mishra’s practice helps her connect to the rhythm in her overall surroundings. Nature’s rules of proportion and colour find the most resonance with her innate aesthetic sensibilities. Her daily walks with her dogs, or the time she potters around in her balcony garden amidst the herbs and flowers she grows, are all spent studying and imbibing the beauty and harmony of form as seen in nature. Memories, photographs, food, books, train journeys, poetry, art, mathematics, archaeology, history, geology – all find themselves in a tangled weave in the mindscape of the designer, sometimes coming together in a tapestry of inspiration. Mishra also likes to collect things that inspire and attract her - her yellow inspiration wall or the “sunny side wall” in her home-office comprises an interesting collection of rocks, leaves, seeds, bottles, shells, beads, flowers, Frida Kahlo prints and Buddha Statuettes.
Of late, her growing concern over environmental damage from mining has led her to move to recycled silver. Mishra now uses 100% recycled silver instead of virgin silver in her jewelry. Suman Mishra’s Core Design Philosophy: Mishra’s creations are not about churning out the same traditional styles that are ubiquitous in silver jewelry but instead, seek to start a new conversation in jewelry design. Whatever be the inspiration behind the jewelry, the look is always contemporary and fun. The designer tries to strike a balance between the trendy and the timeless in each collection. Mishra’s basic design philosophy is to keep it “easy on the eye” with clean, uncluttered, well-balanced, harmonious lines, and elegant silhouettes. Proportions play a really big part in her designs.
Finishing is also something central to the appeal of “Suman Mishra Jewelry”. The designer likes to keep the textures minimally polished. She often hand-polishes the pieces for a bold “unfinished” look in order to enhance the “silver experience”, giving a rustic edge to her jewelry in the process. The marriage of contemporary lines and silhouettes with the rustic feel helps Mishra create a distinct aesthetic she likes to call “Contemporary-Rustic”. The designs under this label are a 100% original. Each collection goes through a rigorous process of conceptualization, designing and production.
