Bal Harbour

C O U R T E S Y O F M I C H A E L A R A M As an artist, he says, "Metal had seemed less accessible as a material. But there is something so noble about metal. You can cast a thumbprint or a gesture and it's captured for eternity. I went from paper and canvas to metal." Aram began spending many months at a time in Delhi, devoting more and more time developing designs for everything from tableware and serving pieces to frames and flatware, initially wholesaling them to stores through reps. Before long, Neiman Marcus published one of his serving sets on the cover of its catalog, and Aram's company took off. But in one sense, he had really just come full circle. His father had been a vice president at the famed Danish modern metalsmith company Georg Jensen ("I remember crawling under the display tables," says Aram), then later worked for Barneys New York. Though Aram pursued a degree in art history and fine art studio practice, not unlike Jensen, his creativity sprung primarily from nature. "My work has always been about creation," he says passionately, "this concept of why we are here, trying to understand our purpose. Nature was a way I made sense of it—cycles of life, death and decay, then regeneration. When you connect something organic in nature with an organic process, the designs really explode. It amplifies nature." Common motifs include branches, leaves (particularly ginkgo leaves, which adorn some of his most popular products), pomegranates, cherry blossoms, and butterflies. It takes great skill to create an Aram piece. For instance, he explains, he is recognized for adorning the rims of bowls with delicate metal beads. "Each of those beads—like a drop of rain, misshapen and perfectly imperfect—is individually placed. If it's too hot, it just runs down the sides. If it's too cold, it won't attach." Today there are Michael Aram stores in Los Angeles, New York, and at Bal Harbour Shops, and Aram is officially a resident of Florida, though he spends plenty of time in his native New York for business. His husband, Aret Tikiryan, is executive vice president of the company, and their adolescent children Anabel and Thadeus have started dabbling in the business. Anabel and Michael work together on some jewelry designs, while Thadeus, explains Aram as he picks up an object from his desk and holds it up, has designed (among numerous other items) a skiing Santa Christmas ornament. True to his father's nature-inspired designs, in Thadeus's creation, Santa's poles are branches and his skis are wooden planks. It seems safe to say that another generation will continue to be involved in a family business that started some 35 years ago. Meanwhile, Aram has also made another sort of full circle. He has returned to large-scale sculptures. Some of these limited-edition pieces—a nearly eight-foot depiction of the Daphne myth, an even taller stylized clump of grass in Corten steel—are available through his website. But Aram has also been commissioned for work, including a large sculpture for Pope Francis, and a 13-foot sculpture installed at the St. Vartan Cathedral commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. "Creatively speaking, people like to pigeonhole you," Aram says. Where this artist is concerned, however, just you try! Aram's Butterfly Ginko vase sits atop a Palm console table. the some of great he rims and too Shops, native "I always questioned the hierarchy of art versus craft. For me, it was simply about making." FROM TOP Orchid mirror; Ocean Reef caviar dish with spoon BALHAR B O U RSH O P S .CO M ; B UYI N G I N D E X , PAG E 20 4

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