SARA MERMAL
Vi(t)al Transmute
In an alchemical ampule, hand cut from quartz crystal, a transmutation of colours occurs. When stirred, the liquid comes to live, its colours dramatically flow from one to the next.
Silver tendrils gently intertwine around the bottle, simulating organic growth and life force. These tendrils embrace the pendant and branch out at the wearer’s neck, where they bloom, emphasizing the vital element of matter’s transformation.
Chemical Transformation
This piece of jewelry incorporates a closed system that enables a reversible chemical reaction. The pendant contains an aqueous solution of a strong base, sugar (a reducing agent), and indigo carmine dye (a redox indicator). When the wearer shakes the necklace, oxygen enters the liquid, causing the solution to change colour. When the oxygen is used up, the colour reverts back to its original state with the help of the sugar.
Material
Quartz crystal, silver, glucose, sodium hydroxide, indigo carmine
Technique
Stone grinding, various goldsmithing techniques for metal shaping, chemical reactions of oxidation and reduction
SARA MERMAL, Slovenia
Sara Mermal, born in 1992, is a formally educated biologist and biotechnologist. She began making jewelry as a self-taught artist in 2018, and three years later she took on an apprenticeship under the auspices of master goldsmith Christoph Steidl Porenta. The same year, she completed a gemmology course and a basic course in stone cutting at the Higher Vocational School in Sežana under the guidance of Miha Jeršek. She first exhibited her jewelry in 2022, at the group exhibition of Zlatarna Zlato Runo, which took place as a part of the first Slovenian Jewelry Week (SIJW). Since then, she has participated in numerous local exhibitions, and in 2024 she exhibited her jewerly for the first time abroad, as a part of the Romanian Jewelry Week. In 2025, she became the winner of the SIJW award for the best young jewelry designer.
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