New jewelry line is inspired by HoMA artworks | Honolulu Museum of Art
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Archived: 2026-04-23 17:37
New jewelry line is inspired by HoMA artworks | Honolulu Museum of Art
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Fri Apr 10 2026
GAMAR x HoMA Collection: Art in Translation
The seed of Lauren Salm’s jewelry brand was planted many years ago, when she was nicknamed “Gamar” by a tour guide while horseback riding in Petra, Jordan. Gamar, in the Bedouin dialect, translates to “moon,” which became a touchstone for Salm during a period of intense fluctuation. Both steadfast and ever-rotating, the moon is nature’s reflection of the “cycles of life,” Salm tells me.
After spending much of her childhood in coastal desert regions, thanks to her father’s work as a marine biologist, the Indonesia-born artist pursued sustainability work that frequently relocated her to far corners of the world. She was also painting part-time and had brief stints in formal art training from the Grand Central Academy in New York and Studio Escalier in Paris. By 2024, Salm found herself creatively unfulfilled. She settled into splitting her time between Hawai‘i and France, searching for a way to combine her environmental career with her artistic skills.
Over a serendipitous Parisian dinner, a friend of Salm’s had asked about the necklace she was wearing. The question unraveled into a discussion of Salm’s mother, who the necklace belonged to, the necklace’s Omani origin, and its craftsmanship. Such a storied necklace was exactly the type of art Salm wanted to make—by the end of the night, she committed to pursuing art full-time through jewelry design, launching a business that she would name Gamar Jewellery.
In its third year, Salm’s latest collection is a collaboration with the Honolulu Museum of Art. The GAMAR x HoMA collection, featured in the museum shop, comprises seventeen pieces of gemstone jewelry that aim to reinterpret four works from the museum’s collection, three of which are on view. Prices range from $250 to $3,600.
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When Salm visited HoMA in June 2025, she walked the galleries and began sketching almost immediately, describing the process as “deeply intuitive and immediate.” Certain works announced themselves to her at once: Georgia O’Keeffe’s
Waterfall III - ‘Iao Valley
and Theodore Wores’s portrait of Elizabeth “Lizzie” Pi‘ilani Victor,
The Lei Maker
, personally struck her for their connections to Hawai‘i’s landscapes and cultural memory. For the remaining selections, she turned to two globally recognized works in the collection: an 11th-century Chinese sculpture of
Guanyin
and Hokusai’s
The Great Wave of Kanagawa
.
Salm describes her design process as “an act of translation.” Rather than replicating the artworks, she distills their visual and emotional vocabularies into gemstone form. Whether it's the angular lines of O’Keeffe’s Maui mountains or the bold ultramarine color of Hokusai’s wave, Salm says each piece of artwork had a specific quality that could be reinterpreted in jewelry. Taken by the quiet regality of Guanyin, she designed a choker and brooch set made of amethyst, a stone long associated with the bodhisattva’s qualities of clarity, compassion, and spiritual balance. Elsewhere, cascading lapis lazuli earrings evoke the sheer tidal force of
The Great Wave
, and the gradation of pink tourmaline mimics the petals draped in
The Lei Maker
.
Despite her departure from environmental work, such a career informs many decisions Salm makes for her jewelry brand. According to Salm, all the materials used in the GAMAR x HoMA collection are ethically sourced stones and recycled metals, manufactured by a three-generation family of artisans in Jaipur, India. The manufacturer, which is also a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council, regularly revises its supply chain and artisanal practices to follow best industry practices. Last fall, Salm spent two months in Jaipur making the final selection of materials and working directly with the family, its members handcrafting every necklace, ring, earring, choker, and brooch. “It was a fun process of co-creation,” Salm said. “It’s a whole different level of translation there, too. I entrust them to interpret my designs and then we would modify it and go back until it felt right.”
Calling Salm nomadic is an understatement—over her lifetime, she has called eight countries across five continents home. I was fortunate to have talked to Salm with no time difference—she spoke to me via Zoom from her family home in Kailua. I couldn’t help looking behind her at the makeshift studio she’s made of the living room, where an oil painting of a lehua grove is in progress. The natural world radiates in her jewelry’s subtle variations, intricate and singular like the landscapes and figures in the artwork that inspired her.
“Heritage jewelry has an energetic quality,” Salm said. “They have an aliveness.”
—Connor Arakaki, 2026
Ipu Kā‘eo Communications Intern
Visit the HoMA Shop
Monday–Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
10am–6pm
Friday
10am–9pm
Telephone
(808) 532-8703
Admission is not required to visit the shop.
Why it is philanthropic to buy from the HoMA Shop
With its specialty, mission-related products, the HoMA Shop offers the public the opportunity to shop with purpose. The carefully selected products reflect the Museum’s mission to build community, promote learning, and inspire harmony and global connection. Many items featured are created and supplied by local artisans, designers, manufacturers and other small makers.
When you make a purchase from the HoMA Shop, you not only support local, regional and national small businesses, you also give back to the community—all revenue goes to funding Museum programs.
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Fri Apr 10 2026
GAMAR x HoMA Collection: Art in Translation
The seed of Lauren Salm’s jewelry brand was planted many years ago, when she was nicknamed “Gamar” by a tour guide while horseback riding in Petra, Jordan. Gamar, in the Bedouin dialect, translates to “moon,” which became a touchstone for Salm during a period of intense fluctuation. Both steadfast and ever-rotating, the moon is nature’s reflection of the “cycles of life,” Salm tells me.
After spending much of her childhood in coastal desert regions, thanks to her father’s work as a marine biologist, the Indonesia-born artist pursued sustainability work that frequently relocated her to far corners of the world. She was also painting part-time and had brief stints in formal art training from the Grand Central Academy in New York and Studio Escalier in Paris. By 2024, Salm found herself creatively unfulfilled. She settled into splitting her time between Hawai‘i and France, searching for a way to combine her environmental career with her artistic skills.
Over a serendipitous Parisian dinner, a friend of Salm’s had asked about the necklace she was wearing. The question unraveled into a discussion of Salm’s mother, who the necklace belonged to, the necklace’s Omani origin, and its craftsmanship. Such a storied necklace was exactly the type of art Salm wanted to make—by the end of the night, she committed to pursuing art full-time through jewelry design, launching a business that she would name Gamar Jewellery.
In its third year, Salm’s latest collection is a collaboration with the Honolulu Museum of Art. The GAMAR x HoMA collection, featured in the museum shop, comprises seventeen pieces of gemstone jewelry that aim to reinterpret four works from the museum’s collection, three of which are on view. Prices range from $250 to $3,600.
Skip
Zoom in
Zoom in
Zoom in
Zoom in
Zoom in
Zoom in
When Salm visited HoMA in June 2025, she walked the galleries and began sketching almost immediately, describing the process as “deeply intuitive and immediate.” Certain works announced themselves to her at once: Georgia O’Keeffe’s
Waterfall III - ‘Iao Valley
and Theodore Wores’s portrait of Elizabeth “Lizzie” Pi‘ilani Victor,
The Lei Maker
, personally struck her for their connections to Hawai‘i’s landscapes and cultural memory. For the remaining selections, she turned to two globally recognized works in the collection: an 11th-century Chinese sculpture of
Guanyin
and Hokusai’s
The Great Wave of Kanagawa
.
Salm describes her design process as “an act of translation.” Rather than replicating the artworks, she distills their visual and emotional vocabularies into gemstone form. Whether it's the angular lines of O’Keeffe’s Maui mountains or the bold ultramarine color of Hokusai’s wave, Salm says each piece of artwork had a specific quality that could be reinterpreted in jewelry. Taken by the quiet regality of Guanyin, she designed a choker and brooch set made of amethyst, a stone long associated with the bodhisattva’s qualities of clarity, compassion, and spiritual balance. Elsewhere, cascading lapis lazuli earrings evoke the sheer tidal force of
The Great Wave
, and the gradation of pink tourmaline mimics the petals draped in
The Lei Maker
.
Despite her departure from environmental work, such a career informs many decisions Salm makes for her jewelry brand. According to Salm, all the materials used in the GAMAR x HoMA collection are ethically sourced stones and recycled metals, manufactured by a three-generation family of artisans in Jaipur, India. The manufacturer, which is also a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council, regularly revises its supply chain and artisanal practices to follow best industry practices. Last fall, Salm spent two months in Jaipur making the final selection of materials and working directly with the family, its members handcrafting every necklace, ring, earring, choker, and brooch. “It was a fun process of co-creation,” Salm said. “It’s a whole different level of translation there, too. I entrust them to interpret my designs and then we would modify it and go back until it felt right.”
Calling Salm nomadic is an understatement—over her lifetime, she has called eight countries across five continents home. I was fortunate to have talked to Salm with no time difference—she spoke to me via Zoom from her family home in Kailua. I couldn’t help looking behind her at the makeshift studio she’s made of the living room, where an oil painting of a lehua grove is in progress. The natural world radiates in her jewelry’s subtle variations, intricate and singular like the landscapes and figures in the artwork that inspired her.
“Heritage jewelry has an energetic quality,” Salm said. “They have an aliveness.”
—Connor Arakaki, 2026
Ipu Kā‘eo Communications Intern
Visit the HoMA Shop
Monday–Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
10am–6pm
Friday
10am–9pm
Telephone
(808) 532-8703
Admission is not required to visit the shop.
Why it is philanthropic to buy from the HoMA Shop
With its specialty, mission-related products, the HoMA Shop offers the public the opportunity to shop with purpose. The carefully selected products reflect the Museum’s mission to build community, promote learning, and inspire harmony and global connection. Many items featured are created and supplied by local artisans, designers, manufacturers and other small makers.
When you make a purchase from the HoMA Shop, you not only support local, regional and national small businesses, you also give back to the community—all revenue goes to funding Museum programs.
Suggested stories
Bodhisattvas and Bart Simpson: All about Tsherin Sherpa and his work
Explore Tsherin Sherpa’s journey from traditional thangka painter to global contemporary artist blending Buddhist iconography with pop culture in Divine Disruption.
Story
The Garden Club of Honolulu wants you to “Imagine That!” May 8-10
Experience Imagine That!—the Garden Club of Honolulu’s Major Flower Show at HoMA, May 8–10, featuring stunning floral design, sustainability, and community inspiration.
Story
From the Archives: What’s in a name?
Discover the story behind the Honolulu Museum of Art’s name, from its 1922 origins to its evolution as a place for education, community, and inspiration.
Story
We have received your application. We will contact you when tickets become available.
Something went wrong. Please call to be put on the waiting list.
Added:
To wishlist