Grown Brilliance Commissions Diamond-Dusted Art Series

Artemis II may have completed its lunar flyby and splashdown, but the space craze remains stratospheric. 

To seize the moment, Grown Brilliance has commissioned multimedia artist Shreya Mehta for 12 celestial-themed paintings, each one illuminated by the jeweler’s lab-grown diamond dust. 

Joining a Zoom call to discuss the timely collaboration, Grown Brilliance founder Akshie Shah said she had an “inkling” NASA was preparing for a blast-off. “No, just kidding.”

In reality, she and Mehta had already planned to auction off the completed series sometime in April, given this month’s designated birthstone is the diamond. The unveiling will take place during an immersive cocktail event Wednesday at Grown Brilliance’s flagship in SoHo. 

“Shreya, as an artist, is someone I really respect and love,” said Akshi, whose home is studded with geode-like works by the Antwerp Royal Academy alumni. “So when we started this conversation, we asked ourselves why are diamonds only restricted to jewelry? And how do you merge diamonds into art?”

Not currently signed to a gallery, Mehta was a free agent. “And that’s why this partnership with Grown Brilliance worked really well because they knew where I was at and were like, ‘Here, play with some diamonds,’” she said.

A self-described “Star Trek” nerd, Mehta’s passion for science doesn’t stop at science-fiction. The certified gemologist cited 55 Cancri Ae, a planet twice Earth’s size and one-third pure diamond, as her primary inspiration, saying, “It kind of blew my mind to think about. We’re just putting little diamonds in our ears, but imagine an entire planet?”

Imagine she did. Using NASA images as a reference, Mehta took creative liberties to formulate her own nebulas, mixing the Grown Brilliance diamond dust directly into her pigments composed of vegan materials like marble, lapis lazuli and indigo berries.

“Around seven years ago, I completely stopped using plastic and any animal-based products for my own spirituality,” Mehta explained. “I want whatever I make to go back to the Earth because there’s always something in art that pulls us toward nature, toward purpose.”

For Grown Brilliance, that purpose was putting a byproduct of its lab-grown diamond production to good use. “Diamond dust usually goes to waste, but in this case, we wanted to try using it as a medium of art, Akshie said. “When Shreya did a little sample for us, it was absolutely stunning.” 

Among the 12 sparklers, some are literal interpretations, while others are abstractions, with 100 percent of proceeds from one in the latter group (Diamond Nebula 1.120) going toward the Make-a-Wish Foundation. The symbolism of stars and wishing upon them isn’t lost on Mehta: “It’s a dreamy work and this is about making a child’s dream come true,” she said.

As for which painting to bid on, that decision ultimately comes down to your lifestyle. According to Mehta, “Some people love connecting with something they recognize whereas some people prefer not to because they need they need stillness.”

Mehta hopes viewers are overcome with similar feelings of calm when they encounter one of her intergalactic artworks, having painted them during bouts of silent mediation, i.e. “No phone, no communication, no nothing.”

And in the age of “Disclosure,” where fear over UFO sightings and doomscrolling abound, that mission seems timely as ever.