Loan Favan is a jewellery designer from New Caledonia. Her work draws inspiration from her heritage, paying homage to ancestral Pacific traditions. She designs wearable and statement art pieces: artefacts intricately shaped around bodily explorations and resembling anatomical implants. Her work draws inspiration from futuristic scenarios, indigenous traditions and body explorations. Blurring the line between ritual body modification and the hybridity of the cyborg, she employs metal as a conduit between traditional craftsmanship and the identity of the future human. Loan’s work embodies the spirits and mystical powers of the island for the posthuman. She blends indigeneity and futurism into outspoken visual manifestations.

Loan founded Naula Studios, a Bali-based jewellery brand, after graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven and interning with avant-garde jewellery artist Chrishabana in New York. Her collections explore transhumanism, to redefine the human of tomorrow. The collection NGEI (‘later into the future’ in the language of the New Caledonian island of Mare)  is charged with symbols from native artefacts and practices, carrying age-old values and identities into the future. ALLIAGE -Cu29Zn30 transforms the wearer into a cyborg, seemingly integrating into the skin to harness the power of Loan’s future self. Her latest exploration revolves around rituals of skin scarification in a far-flung future. It reinterprets a local rite of passage in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu: men receive markings mimicking crocodile scales, meant to empower them with immortal powers. Titled Tanem Fuija (vernacular for ‘exchanging futures’), the collection re-interprets the tools for this practice into three monumental looks, composed of numerous implants beneath the skin. Beyond her artistic pursuits, Loan actively contributes to the design and art education of New Caledonia, inspiring younger generations, leading workshops, and fostering a united community of designers on the island.

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