The artist's studio

Harumi Klossowska de Rola is an artist and designer who creates powerful sculptural works and delicately crafted jewellery inspired by the flora and fauna of the natural world. Her first encounter with a collection of precious gems at the age of seven captivated her imagination and inspired a lasting fascination with jewels and the splendour of nature. She began her career as a designer of haute joaillerie, creating pieces for luxury brands including Boucheron, Chopard, Van Cleef & Arpels, Valentino and Goossens. Alongside her jewellery, she has developed her sculptural practice, finding her unique voice through a sensitive rendering of creatures great and small, often fusing the aesthetic with the functional and creating, in her words, ‘something that you can wear, or you can exhibit on a shelf’.

At almost two metres tall, the majestic Moquwaio, appears to stand sentinel with a commanding presence, its gaze and attention fixed upon some unseen spirit, its noble head held high. This serene wolf sculpture is cast in bronze with intricate details of twenty-four carat gold and takes inspiration from Nalawi, the tame wolf who lives alongside Harumi in her home in Switzerland, the eighteenth-century Grand Chalet de Rossinière. The artist has built up a mutual trust and respect with Nalawi, and Harumi's intimate knowledge of the lupine form from first-hand observation is masterfully captured in this mesmerising work.