Here are contemporary jewelry artworks by Daria Khoreva, presented in various galleries and exhibitions around the world.
Bitter Perfection
There's nothing peaceful about how a pearl forms. Something sharp gets lodged in a mollusk's body, and the animal can't get rid of it. So it does the only thing it can — coats the intrusion, over and over, in nacre. The wound stays inside. The animal responds with the gentlest thing it can produce. That seems closer to what peace actually is. Not the absence of pain, but tenderness as a form of resistance against it. We carry things we can't remove — grief, shame, fear. They sit inside us like foreign bodies. We can't heal around them cleanly. But we can build around them, wrap them in meaning, in experience, in form. The pearl is what's left when a wound is met with patience instead of force. That's the only kind of perfection I'm interested in.
The piece is available for purchase.
2026
I Don’t Know These People
I do not know my father, and he does not know of my existence. Half of my lineage—my roots—have been hidden from me from the very beginning.
I have always been fascinated by stories of families who can trace their ancestors back through generations. Of all my relatives, I only reliably know my mother and my grandmother.
I have long wondered why I have so little information about my ancestry. In searching for answers, it became clear that my family history was shaped by a complex chain of events that caused generational ruptures. Beginning with pre-revolutionary Russia and dekulakization, continuing with repression linked to Jewish heritage, and further marked by constant relocation across the Soviet Union in search of stability—each of these factors contributed to broken ties and lost connections.
Based on this experience, I created a necklace in the form of a genealogical tree. The photographs represent the relatives I know, while the rest, unfortunately, remain unknown to me.
The piece is available for purchase.
2024
A. and M.
LGBTQA+
A., M., and S. were in a triadic relationship: A. and M. were married, and S. was their partner.
When the draft began in Russia in 2022, M. left the country, while A. gradually prepared to join him. During those months, life with S. became especially harmonious. Although much of their time revolved around the children, they found moments for each other—dancing in the living room after putting the kids to bed, lingering under the blankets in the morning, or escaping to the countryside where the children could play while they embraced and enjoyed nature together. After moving to join her husband, A. tried to maintain the relationship with S., but S., unable to leave Russia, chose to end it, saying: “I decided not to get attached because people keep disappearing.” A. believes that without the war and mobilization, they would have moved together as a family with their three children. Although she considered the risks of being open about their relationship, she feels that without the anxiety and unbearable uncertainty, they would have found a way to stay together.
The piece is now held in a private collection.
2024
“Painkiller” is a silver ring featuring a Nurofen tablet. In this work, Dasha addresses the stigmatization of the menstrual cycle and the pressure on women to take painkillers—not only to manage physical pain, but also to avoid stereotypes suggesting that women are less capable due to hormonal fluctuations and reduced productivity during their cycle.
The piece is available for purchase.
2020
“Heart”
Despite the advancement of the Western world, in many countries and cultures the institution of marriage remains a primary tool of patriarchal control over women. A woman is first dependent on her family and parents, and once married, is often expected to submit to her husband, relinquishing her rights and freedoms in favor of the marriage.
Patriarchal pressure takes many forms—from financial dependence and the expectation to manage the household and raise children without support, to instances of domestic violence.
In this context, the engagement ring becomes a symbol of a woman’s submission to a man who controls her life.
The piece is available for purchase.
2020
This is a double-sided necklace, a kind of ancestral amulet. On one side, there is a large disc made of black jet, inlaid with 12 stones, each corresponding to the astrological significance of a specific month of pregnancy. At the center sits a large baroque pearl, symbolizing the embryo of the child.
On the other side, there is a silver rod engraved with 10 months on one side and 30 days on the other. This allows the wearer to track the exact progression of pregnancy by marking the precise month and day at any given moment.
The piece was created as a bespoke commission and is now held in a private collection.
