Fleuri La Belle is a Dutch-Congolese jewelry artist based in the Netherlands. Inspired by her ancestry, mythologies and movement she shapes her works through the medium of jewelry. She sees jewelry as part of a living and breathing form and as an extension of the self in an emotional, spiritual and physical form.

Her graduation collection ‘Embracing Black’, 2022, now part of Museum Arnhem’s permanent collection, was the catalyst of her practice, where she explored her Congolese identity into a collection of chains, amulets and a ritualistic performance. 

In 2023 she was part of the second GEMZ cycle by contemporary jewelry magazine Current Obsession; a programme that kickstarts the practice of young jewelry makers. The collection ‘Simbi’ was created, which is based on the Kongolese water spirits of the same name. They are guardians of nature and the intermediaries between the physical world of the living and the spiritual world of the ancestors. The Simbi collection is a manifestation of these spirits, made from pearls and shells, representing the underwater world, that is symbolic for the world of the ancestors.

Paint Me Black Angels is a project in which Fleuri La Belle combines her profession as a jewellery artist and poledancer, made possible by het Cultuurfonds. The project draws inspiration from the 1953 song Angelitos Negros, performed by Eartha Kitt, which is based on the 1943 poem Píntame Angelitos Negros by Andrés Eloy Blanco. The poem is a protest against racism. The performance tells a story in which a ball-and-chain jewellery piece symbolises racism and restrictive thoughts that weigh her down. Through dance, she gradually breaks free, ascending heavenward on the pole and transforming into a Black angel.

Connected with her artistic practice she creates wearable jewelry items to keep; made to order.