Meet Holly

Holly Tupper stands behind a wooden desk in an office or studio setting, wearing a blue patterned blouse, pearl necklace, and gold earrings. Framed wall art hangs on the cream-colored wall behind her.
HOLLY TUPPER, FOUNDER & JEWELRY DESIGNER

Holly Tupper’s creative journey started with jewelry thirty years ago, expanding to developing a fragrance collection fifteen years ago and more recently adding skincare and home fragrance collections. Creating the Cultus Artem house has given voice to Tupper’s creative process which connects these collections as an expression of the art of adornment. In creating Cultus Artem, Tupper wanted to step back from today’s predilections for mass production and disposable possessions and capture the beauty of a time when luxury was as much about the alchemy of raw materials and hand craftsmanship as unhurried artistry.

Holly Tupper stands indoors wearing a loose brown long-sleeve top and a dark metallic skirt. She is posed in a room with beige walls, wood trim, and a gray sculpture behind her.
"As an artist, one of my abiding interests and themes in my own work whether jewelry, fashion, perfume, art or anything I have created has the element of the appreciation of what is clearly made by hand’.”
A printed portrait photo card showing a woman covering her face, placed on a colorful embroidered textile. A gold ring with a clear stone is resting on the card.

Tupper launched the Cultus Artem fragrance collection with eight luxury fragrances in 2019 at Bergdorf Goodman, and introduced her Hydration Elixir skincare essentials in 2021. She reintroduced her fine jewelry collection in 2023 launching at London's PAD (Paris Art and Design) and showing in Paris during Paris Fashion Weeks.

Holly Tupper stands at a wooden workbench in a bright, vintage-style room with a large window, hanging ceiling fans, framed wall art, and drawers.

Born in New York City, Tupper’s Mother was a highly respected floral designer and her father was a stockbroker, jeweler, glider pilot, and art collector. Tupper studied painting in New Orleans before a short career in the music industry managing a rock band. Eventually getting a ‘real job’ in the finance industry, Holly later met her husband and his career took them to Singapore. With extensive jewelry training in Singapore, New York City, Deere Isle, Maine, and London, and studies in fragrance spanning Grasse, France, and Bangkok, Thailand, Tupper has honed a uniquely nuanced perspective on these time-honored crafts. Tupper’s approach to creating is deeply personal, cultivating a range of inspirations from her earliest sensory memories to more recent explorations in material and methodology.

Holly Tupper sits at a table surrounded by small blue glass bottles and white dropper-like tools, smiling while holding two droppers. A large display of similar blue bottles and a gold candelabra are visible in the background.

“My approach to fragrance is inspired by the way I have approached jewelry design. I spend time contemplating the structure, form, and color of gemstones- their wholeness and their potential sculptural relation to others. These gems are amongst the most precious raw materials produced by nature. As a craftsman, I seek to reveal the beauty and unique character of the gems and present them in a new light. Likewise, I use individual fragrance ingredients to evoke personal experiences and present them anew while reflecting my own insights as an artist.”