About the Artist

Either / Or Design is a Malaysian artisanal jewelry brand founded in 2019, which encapsulates the true meaning of slow fashion. Su Ling Teoh, founder and designer-maker, has brought to the table a new definition of handmade jewelry, by presenting the Malaysian heritage in the form of modern jewelry design, through exploration of contemporary techniques and materials. Su Ling handcrafts each and every piece of jewelry with specialty materials including jewelry-grade polymer clay and Czech glass. Su Ling Teoh was selected by Penang Global Tourism, the State Government’s organization, as the local artisan in their July 2021 edition of Penang Artisan Feature. She was also selected as an exhibiting artist at the nation’s biggest art festival, George Town Festival 2021 and 2022. Her unique designs have gained attention of the mainstream media and were featured in The Star, Options by The Edge Malaysia, Guang Ming Daily, Penang Art District, and The Expat Magazine.

About The Art

Either / Or Design’s tile patterns are made in jewelry-grade polymer clay to ensure that the pieces are of the highest quality. This material is extremely lightweight, shockproof, colourfast and waterproof. The patterns are handcrafted using a technique in which different colours of clay are layered on top of each other in a highly specific orientation. The layering creates a block of clay which is then compressed by hand to reduce in size, much like the making of the hard candy of which the sugar is stretched into a long form and chopped into little circles, revealing the design on the cross-section. However unlike the candy, the clay block needs to be compressed very slowly to avoid pattern distortion. This process is extremely laborious and time-consuming. The clay block is then sliced to reveal the tile pattern on the cross-section. This signature technique is used in the creation of most of the collections of the brand.