Object & Totem

A former fine artist specializing in mixed media, Julianne Ahn began her ceramics label Object & Totem in 2011, taking its name from the meditative qualities of her new material: “Clay has memory,” the Philadelphia-based RISD and SAIC grad has said. “If you accidentally dent a bowl and try to fix it, it’ll eventually want to return to being dented as if it had a life of its own.” Her jewelry also incorporates those totemic elements, with each cotton cord hung with beautifully glazed, unusually hued, high-fired beads.