Interviews

Ann Culy: plain gold ring has a story to tell

Interviews /

Ann CulyAnn Culy has a thing for rings. Using ancient techniques for making them, she is showing a variety of rings at the Avid Gallery in New Zealand. Avid has recently joined the galleries who support Art Jewelry Forum. We  welcome their addition, which adds to the texture and variety of the artists we interview.

Susan Cummins: Were you born and raised in New Zealand?

Ann Culy: Yes, in Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

Can you tell the story of how you became a jeweler?

Ann Culy: I discovered working with metal at art school, in the printmaking studio and in the sculpture department, where I worked on a small scale using lost-wax casting in bronze. The combination of melting, pouring, and manipulation of metal has been a constant joy and led me directly to jewelry making, where I can fuse all those skills together.

 

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Patrycja Zwierzynska: Ephemeras

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Patrycja ZwierzynskaToronto-based artist Patrycja Zwierzynska transforms metal into delicate, abstract sculptures that are inspired by natural forms. Her work is driven by exploring materials and processes in unique ways to capture form and volume, often leading to surprising results. The result of her most recent exploration is Ephemeras, an exhibition at L. A. Pai Gallery that centers on themes of ephemerality and impermanence and explores ideas about process. We had a chance to catch up with Patrycja to learn more about her work and how the idea of “ephemeras” is captured in her jewelry. 

Bonnie Levine: Tell us about your background and how you found your way to being a jewelry maker. 

Patrycja Zwierzynska: I went to art school without the specific intention of becoming a jeweler. Art was always something I was involved in, and I wanted to pursue my passion for it. In my second year at school, I took an introductory jewelry course and got hooked on working with metal and the finesse it required. I became obsessive about polishing and fitting pieces together perfectly. Working with the material really spoke to me, and pretty soon, the jewelry projects I was working on were all I was thinking about. 

 

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Carin Reinders

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Portrait of Carin Reinders, photo: Medea Huisman Susan Cummins: Could you describe CODA and its mission in the Netherlands for me? Carin Reinders: CODA Museum is an amalgamation of the Historisch Museum Apeldoorn and the Van Reekum Museum. It comprises a library, an archive, and a museum. CODA’s contemporary art collection is based on the

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on the horizon: Curated by {x} collaborations

Interviews /

Alexandra Hopp{x} collaborations’ exhibition on the horizon includes work from 11 emerging contemporary art jewelers. The show is on display at Brooklyn Metal Works through October 25th, 2014. In this interview, Mariah Tuttle discusses the development of {x} collaborations and the concept behind on the horizon. 

Missy Graff: Please describe your background. How did you become interested in jewelry? 

Mariah Tuttle: How is someone not interested in jewelry? If they aren’t, maybe they’re not paying attention! 

I actually began college with a dual focus in literature and furniture design. To complete my degree in applied design at San Diego State University, I needed to take introductory coursework in a variety of craft subjects including textiles, ceramics, and jewelry. When I took my first jewelry class, I realized I was ultimately interested in intimate spaces. Since then, I have earned my MFA in Jewelry + Metalsmithing from Rhode Island School of Design, reestablished my core relationship to writing and dialogue through my role as a contributing writer for Current Obsession magazine, continued to have an active studio, and pursued a relationship to the subject of jewelry that encompasses more of my broad interests and strengths.

 

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Ike Jünger: Jewelry

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Ike JüngerIke Jünger, the well-known German jeweler from Munich, is currently having an exhibition at Galerie Rosemarie Jäger, where she is showcasing pieces from the past five years. She is known for her subtle enamel work. Her technique conveys both color and texture with beauty and unusual sensitivity. We took this opportunity to talk to Ike about her work, influences, and family legacy. 

Bonnie Levine: Can you tell us about the work you’re currently presenting at Galerie Rosemarie Jäger? How does it develop your work from the past?

Ike Jünger: In this exhibition I show pieces mainly from the last five years. During this period I developed my work from different starting points. On the one hand I made pieces inspired by nature, and on the other, pieces with strict geometrical shapes and clear colors. Some people may not understand these two different approaches. In my presentation at Rosemarie Jäger, I want to show the connection I see between these two. For example, you can take the geometrical pieces as a reaction to the organic ones. There was a point when I felt there was no progress in my work. It was no longer a challenge to produce these organic brooches. So you might say that one form of expression is a response to the other.

 

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25 years of Ted Noten

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Atelier Ted NotenTed Noten … well, what can you say? He is a phenomenon in this small world of art jewelry. He has become an atelier, not a lone maker; he has developed see-through purses and bags, not just jewelry; he has made videos; he designed the AJF pin in 2012; he cut up a luxury car and made the pieces into brooches; he has written a manifesto; and so much more. This show at Putti Gallery is a retrospective of 25 years of his work. We had to take the opportunity to interview him.

Susan Cummins: You said, “Your story can only get through to people if you rob them of their prejudices about jewellery.” How do you do that?

Ted Noten: I play with greed and seduce by aesthetics, using archetypes that people can recognize and loads of humor. These elements make my work possible to enter and then there are more layers of comments, criticisms, condensations of meanings. All this without being moralistic! But through absurdist mirroring.

 

 

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Daniel Kruger: Angle of Incidence

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Daniel Kruger: Between Nature and Artifice, Jewellery 1974–2014Daniel Kruger, who is a professor at the University for Art and Design in Halle, Germany, is currently having an exhibition at Sienna Patti, among many other things. For one, he has just produced a beautiful monograph published by Arnoldsche, and for another he has accompanying shows at the Grassi Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Leipzig, Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus in Hanau, and the Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch. This series of exhibitions and the book took many years of planning and are a huge accomplishment. Daniel Kruger is everywhere.

Susan Cummins: Daniel, you are having quite a moment right now, with a new book, Daniel Kruger: Between Nature and Artifice, Jewellery 1974–2014, and a series of four museum shows, plus of course this exhibition with Sienna Gallery. How long have you been planning these events and how did the plans develop?

Daniel Kruger: The planning started a long time ago because the exhibitions and book were originally scheduled for 2010. I had approached Cornelie Holzach of the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim about doing an exhibition there. She agreed, and this was a particular honor as I had already had an exhibition there in 1984 and this would be my second show at this museum. After that I asked Yvonne Joris of the Stedelijk Museum s’-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands (she died last year) if she would give the exhibition a second venue. There too I had had solo exhibitions in the past initiated by Yvonne in the two municipal museums preceding the present Stedelijk Museum in s’Hertogenbosch: 1981 at the Dienst Beeldende Kunst, De Moriaan and 1994 at the Museum het Kruithuis “Five Stones and a Small Feint”. The project grew with the Goldschmiedehaus in Hanau to where my exhibition of 1984 in Pforzheim had followed from Pforzheim and the Grassi Museum in Leipzig that now will be the initiator of this series of exhibitions. Between one thing and another, the shows were postponed and the order of the exhibitions changed around. This gave me a lot of time and leisure to do the planning.

 

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Courtney Kemp and Karen Vanmol: Home

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Karen VanmolHeidi Lowe Gallery is currently having a two-person show called Home, featuring the work of Courtney Kemp and Karen Vanmol.

Courtney Kemp, who lives in Oregon, keeps both a jewelry and a sculpture practice. In her jewelry, she restructures mundane, domestic bits of living spaces into contemporary and precious wearables. She currently teaches at the Oregon College of Art and Craft and the University of Oregon.

Karen Vanmol, a jewelry artist based in Belgium, explores the tension between city and countryside as familiar childhood landscapes fade and as her understanding of the world is constantly “under construction.” This is her fourth time showing work at the Heidi Lowe Gallery.

Olivia Shih: Can you talk about your background and about how you found your way to making jewelry?

Courtney Kemp: Growing up, I was always excited about building and making. We lived on a farm that had been in my father’s family for years and was filled with really archaic architecture and machinery, so there was the consistent need for repairing and rebuilding. I fell into making jewelry in college without any prior experience or concrete knowledge about the field, but with a solid background in tinkering. I feel it was more the material itself that drew me in, rather than the format. The potentials of working with metal seemed endless.

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Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewelry

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Gallery Funaki recently launched the inaugural Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewelry to honor and recognize Mari Funaki, a unique and passionate advocate for contemporary jewelry in Australia. This award aims to celebrate Mari’s legacy by recognizing the skills and talent of jewelers, both local and overseas, and by providing a platform for outstanding new work to be shown in Australia. Artists worldwide, at any stage of their practice, were invited to apply for the award; over 530 entries from more than 35 countries were received. The work of 31 finalists was selected and is currently on exhibit at Gallery Funaki from August 13–September 13, 2014.

The winner of the established artist category is Kiko Gianocca, from Switzerland, with a series of three necklaces collectively titled Veneer. His work has been exhibited internationally since 2003 and he is currently represented by Gallery Funaki.

In the emerging artist category, two winners were selected: Patrícia Domingues, from Portugal, with her pendant from the Duality series, and Polish artist Sara Gackowska for her brooch, Membrane, from the Methamorphosis series. In addition, two commendations were given, the first to Inari Kiuru, a Melbourne artist, for her two brooches from the Evolution series, and Jiro Kamata, based in Germany, for his Spiegel necklace.

The recent announcement of winners provided an opportunity to speak with gallery director Katie Scott about the award and her vision for the gallery, as well as hear from the three winners.

Gallery Funaki

Bonnie Levine: Mari Funaki was an important visionary and maker in the world of contemporary jewelry, particularly in Melbourne. Can you tell us about her and her legacy?

 

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Silke Spitzer: Breathing

Interviews /

Silke SpitzerSilke Spitzer’s exhibition Breathing was recently on display at Ornamentum Gallery in Hudson, New York, from July 12 through August 10. In this interview, Silke describes the relationships between her life and work, and her materials and surroundings. 

Missy Graff: How did you become interested in making jewelry? Please describe your background.

Silke Spitzer: Growing up as the daughter of an arts, music, and sports teacher, I cannot remember a time when I was not creating or making something. I was always sitting or kneeling barefoot on the ground, carving, drawing, sewing, painting, cutting, scribbling, collecting, adding, and combining the things that surrounded me. To me, creating and living have always seemed to be the same. The beauty of nature, light, smell, the deepness of a voice, a thought or special sound, have always touched me. 

Growing up, I always considered creating a living by making with my own hands to be my dream job and life’s goal. Et voilà! I feel the same way today.

Why jewelry? Well, I guess it just happened. I grew up with the desire to create. Making jewelry was just one option I decided to explore. The tools seemed interesting and the scale seemed manageable. I enjoy the intimacy of making a piece all alone, by myself from the very beginning to the very end. I am very interested in the solitude that working on a small scale offers, a familiar scale, my body’s scale, a scale that is very much my soul’s size. 

 

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Jorge Manilla: Beyond the Limits

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Jorge ManillaIn the past few years, Jorge Manilla has created a personal style of work that is the result of his Mexican background and conceptual education in Europe. In his work, Manilla often manipulates a wide array of materials to make sense of the intricate and painful relationship people have with religion. Currently, he is simultaneously working as a guest teacher, an artist, and a PhD student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp. On the occasion of his show, called Beyond the Limits, at Galerie Ra in Amsterdam, I had a chance to ask him a few questions.

Olivia Shih: You first received technical jewelry training at the school of Design and Crafts (Mexican Institute of Fine Arts) in Mexico before enrolling at St Lucas University College of Art and Design Antwerp in Belgium for your master’s degree. How did this transition influence your work? 

Jorge Manilla: My education in Mexico opened a world of possibilities. Those years taught me that a piece of classical jewelry acquires its value by the materials and techniques used, as well as by its aesthetic and wearability. When I learned how to make jewelry I started selling it straight away, but I often asked myself, why did I do it? Who did I do it for?
Soon after that, I decided to move to Belgium. A year of sculpture at the Academy of Art in Ghent was the perfect bridge to start my contemporary jewelry education. During that year, I started to think more deeply about ideas, concepts, and processes.

At St Lucas, I learned to make jewelry by not making jewelry. During that time I forced myself not to think about the portability of the piece; I stopped using precious metals, which I think was one of the most difficult things to do.

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