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Pamela Love Channels Surrealist Artists in New Collection

CollectionsNov 20, 2024

Pamela Love Channels Surrealist Artists in New Collection

The “Camera Oscura” collection showcases earring designs celebrating female Surrealist artists Claude Cahun and Leonor Fini.

Model wearing pieces from Camera Oscura collection
Imagery for the “Camera Oscura” collection was shot in the museum opened in the former home of Carlo Mollino, an Italian artist and architect who was part of the Surrealism movement and a friend of Leonor Fini. The brand explained that his lush and eclectic home provided a glimpse into the “absurd yet glamorous world of Surrealism.”
New York—Last month, Pamela Love released her new “Camera Oscura” collection inspired by female artists from the Surrealism movement.

Works by artists Claude Cahun and Leonor Fini are explored and celebrated throughout the collection’s 20 pieces of singular earrings and rings.

“I was heavily inspired by motifs present in the work of Leonor Fini and Claude Cahun. Especially Claude Cahun’s relationship with identity and the wearing of a mask,” said Pamela Love, the designer of her eponymous brand, who began exploring these artists in her “Chimera” collection.

The Surrealist movement was an international intellectual and political movement that spanned from the late 1910s to the early 2000s, according to The Metropolitan Museum of Art.


While it was dominated by male artists, female Surrealists used the movement to create a space to explore identity, fantasy, and social issues through their art that emphasized themes of the conscious verses the subconscious and the exploration of the female body, said Artchive, an online art encyclopedia.

Cahun was known for her photography, which played with gender fluidity through self-portraits.

Meanwhile, Fini painted scenes that challenged gender stereotypes and the way women were perceived by male artists in the 20th century.


The Camera Oscura collection contains pieces in 14-karat yellow gold or sterling silver.

A standout is the “Lacquer” singular earring, which displays a dangling hand complete with red enamel nail polish.

The pieces were designed as singular earrings for the wearer to create their own composition, mixing and matching for a stacked ear look.

“I would probably wear the ‘Long Cry’ on my first hole and the ‘Oir’ on my second, while using the ‘Beso’ and ‘Lacquer’ on the other side,” said Love on how she would style Camera Oscura for herself.

Also included in the collection is the “Portrait” ring style that Pamela Love is known for, now available in silver.

Imagery and a fashion film for Camera Oscura were shot inside the former home turned museum of Italian artist and architect Carlo Mollino.

A member of the Surrealist movement and friend of Fini, Mollino’s historic Surrealist home was chosen to showcase Love’s jewelry because it provided a view into the “absurd yet spectacularly glamourous world of the surrealist movement,” said the brand.


The collection’s name was also inspired by Mollino, taken from his book on photography titled “Il Messaggio dalla Camera Oscura,” which translates to “Message from the Darkroom.”

The book was discovered by Andrés Lareu and Camilo González, who worked on creative direction, photography, and film for the campaign, said the brand in a post on Instagram.

 Related stories will be right here … 

The collection retails for $260 to $2,760.

Camera Oscura launched Oct. 15 and is available on the Pamela Love website.

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