JEWELRY IS A BRIDGE

CONNECTING US TO ...

SMCK MAGAZINE CATALOGUE - PART III

Jewelry reflects hierarchy and succession. It also connects the rarity of materials, the excellence of craftsmanship, the possession of exclusive know-how, and technology to social prestige, ownership, wealth, and class.
Iron Age Europe witnessed humankind's parallel progress in metallurgy in both the manufacture of arms and jewelry. Protection, hunting, war, as well distinctions, amulets, and accumulation of wealth go hand-in-hand in Europe's technological, spiritual, economic, and social development. Moon-, spiral-, and diamond-shaped jewelry motifs made using the same technique and found in sepulchral and religious sites are silent but eloquent witnesses of an earlier unification in taste, symbols, and religious beliefs.

Time, environmental activism, upcycling, nature-centricity, aesthetics of modesty and underconsumption, void and immateriality serve as a conceptual counterpole to polluting consumerism.
Jewelry-makers are among the pioneers of establishing standards of ethical and environmentally sane production in the arts and crafts sectors. Patriotism, spirituality, praying, faith, older values of human history reemerge powerfully when conditions demand sacrifices. Even a material found exclusively in a specific location such as amber becomes a national symbol and helps us understand that contemporary jewelry can also serve purposes that once shaped the history of modern Europe.

Jewelry's potential to reach a broad public due to its mobile character can send messages no censor will ever be able to decode or stop. Thus, jewelry can become a revolutionary accessory.

Works by:

Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg • Staatliche Antikensammlungen Munich • Jess Bischoff • Kinga Horányi • Anneli Oppar • Ankie Lee • Stadtmuseum Berlin • Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim / Gabi Dziuba • Ute van der Plaats • Gigi Mizrahi • Basil Papantoniou Foundation • Steffi Kieslinger • Helen Dilkes • Jakob Bengel Foundation • Vilnius Biennial / Vita Pukštaitė-Bružė • Liu Yang • Tamara Trusova.

Scheibenfibel (disc fibula), Vulci/Etruria, seventh century B.C.. Gold sheet, engravings, filigrane. Photo: © Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek, Renate Kühling.


STAATLICHE ANTIKENSAMMLUNGEN MUNICH

This masterpiece of jewelry art made before the mid-seventh century BC belongs to the Etrurian disc fibulae. It was discovered during the 1830 excavations of Lucien Bonaparte in Vulci. The fibula comprises a big disc, two diagonal bars, and one shield-shaped fibula. Different techniques were used to make it. Fine drawings of ornaments, animals, and two armed dancers are engraved on the disc surface with a fine needle. On both bars and on the body of the fibula a rich ornamental decoration of filigree and granulation has been applied, accomplished by small sculptural figures made of gold sheet.

Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek am Münchner Königsplatz are among the biggest museums worldwide with collections exclusively dedicated to Classical Antiquity (Greeks, Etrurians, Romans).
The museums have grown through the collections of the dukes and kings of the Wittelsbach dynasty, and their holdings have been further enriched with important private collections. The museums present excellent masterpieces of sculpture, ceramics, painting, glass, and jewelry.


www.antike-am-koenigsplatz.mwn.de    |   @antikensammlungenglyptothek

IKIIKI Brooch Series, 2021. Silver foam, stainless steel. Photo: Klára Láng.


KINGA HORÁNYI

"Metalfoam is an innovative technical material originally developed for industrial use. My idea was to put this material in a different perspective and show the raw beauty of it for jewelry design. I apply various methods to treat the surface and paint them, in order to increase the contrast between the shiny, polished silver surface and the organic cell structure.
The end result, IKIIKI, is a bridge between the sophisticated elegance of jewelry design and the rawness of industrial materials."


www.kingahoranyi.com   |   @kingahoranyi

"My Time", brooch, 2024. Nylon, brass, stainless steel, color. Photo: Anneli Oppar.


ANNELI OPPAR

"My work is based on the passage of time and on the desire to calculate how it feels. It seems to me that time can pass in many different ways. As a human being, I am curious about how detailed the description can be and I want to hold the result in my hands and transfer it to the real world.
With digital tools, we create precise and measurable things, but my way of perceiving time can take turns, go through itself, tick on multiple layers, move at the speed of light or stretch. Sometimes I am very nervous about my time. Then I think, how much longer will this moment last?"


A-Galerii_Anneli Oppar   |   @annelioppar

Flinderhaube (headgear with tinsel), second half of the seventeenth century. Knotted macrame net made of golden yellow silk yarn, metal tinsel, lace-up metal border. © Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg. Photo: Georg Janßen.


GERMANISCHES NATIONALMUSEUM NüRNBERG

This impressive headgear worn by the patrician ladies of Nuremberg is stitched with numerous tinsels loosely hung on a silk net by wire-reinforced pins. Tinsels were small, locally made metal plates that, in this case, are drop-shaped and made of a copper-silver alloy. They were later coated with silver and gold. When the headgear was worn, the tinsels hit each other, and made known, not only visually but also acoustically, that the wearer belonged to the upper class.

According to the Nuremberg Dress Code of 1657, only women of the first social standing were allowed to wear such headgears. Even if other head coverings like berets or hats were already fashionable for a long time, the conservative patrician women opted consciously for older headgear types. On other paintings of this period, one sees the majestic impression made on the viewer by the golden headgear combined with the dark dress.

With more than 25,000 objects, the Textiles, Clothing and Jewelry collection of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg comprises textiles from late antiquity to the present day, clothing from the 16th to 21st century and a range of traditional fabrics and regional costumes. It is complemented by the Jewellery Collection whose holdings stretch from the Middle Ages to the present day.


www.gnm.de/collections   |   @germanisches_nationalmuseum

"Collar 3 Chiles", necklace, 2003. Sterling silver. Photo: Gigi Mizrahi.


GIGI MIZRAHI

"We Mexicans love spicy food, and chilies represent us in many ways! This is a necklace about identity; it is like a star around a woman's neck. My more recent work preserves discarded organic material – seeds, flowers, branches, leaves, dried fruit – and transforms it into pieces of permanent beauty.
During my walks, I often find simple objects that have been thrown away. These objects that many would call "trash" retain a beauty that deserves to be preserved, upcycled."


www.gigimizrahi.com   |   @gigimizrahiwork

Simon Pierre Devaranne (private foundry), Butterfly necklace, ca. 1840-50, Berlin. Iron, steel, cast, black-fired, assembled. © Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin. Photo: Oliver Ziebe.


STADTMUSEUM BERLIN

The 1813 donation campaign "I gave gold for iron" is credited with having triggered the production of jewelry made of non-precious and non-noble material. The exchange of jewelry made of precious metals for iron jewelry during the donation campaign turned the latter into a symbol of patriotism. The jewelry pieces also served as mourning jewelry after the death of popular Queen Louise of Prussia, and enjoyed great popularity as fashion jewelry during the Biedermeier era. The delicate Collier that weighs only 12 gr is an example of this iron-cast jewelry art.

The Stadtmuseum Berlin Foundation is one of the most important museums of cultural history in Europe, and its collection is mainly dedicated to the history of the City of Berlin from its initial settlement to present times.


www.sammlung-online.stadtmuseum.de   |   @stadtmuseumberlin

"Ash, dust, hailstones...", neckpiece, 2020. Water color paper, acrylic paint, burnt umber and Australian sienna pigments, pearlescent pigment, acrylic sheet, 925 silver, resin. Photo: Helen Dilkes.


HELEN DILKES

"Ash, dust, hailstones... vmaterial residues from previous works. My aim was to minimize the use of new materials to help reduce the 'exploding' of our earth's atmosphere, and respond to the environment generally and the harsh pandemic lockdowns we were facing in Melbourne, Australia, in 2020.
The piece relates to wild weather and fires we experienced early in the year. It combines moldings of actual hailstones, with paints from previous works, 3D-printed silver (recycled), and hand-fabricated wire components."


www.helendilkes.com    |   @helendilkes

Alexandra Bircken, Gabi Dziuba, "Natodraht", bracelet, 2023. Silver. © VG Bild-Kunst, Photo: Winfried Reinhardt.


SCHMUCKMUSEUM PFORZHEIM / GABI DZIUBA

Matches or pill packages, coins, beans, or letters of the alphabet cast in gold or silver and altered through minimal interference – Gabi Dziuba can modify everything into jewelry. Friendship has a fundamental influence on her artwork. The exhibition shows her jewelry from different periods alongside a selection of jewelry made with artist friends. The show, in cooperation with Kunstverein Pforzheim, is a retrospective of forty years of work.

Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim: Approximately 2,000 exhibits illustrate five millennia of jewelry art including masterpieces from Antiquity, Renaissance, and Jugendstil/Art Nouveau, as well as a unique collection of modern jewelry art since 1960.


www.schmuckmuseum.de   |   @schmuckmuseum.pforzheim

"Evergreen #3", pectoral piece, 2024. Nephrite from Qinghai province, sterling silver, copper, steel wire. Model: Zi Yan Wang. Photo: Han Chen.


ANKIE LEE

"How do we treat our materials? How do we value them? In the jade shop, some pieces are locked in the safe, others are left on the ground as doorstop. I associate the latter with people in limbo. They are jade, but not quite so. They are human, but not quite so, either.
I chose the leftover pieces of wholesale jade beads, tea sets, and incense burners. They were cut with minimal waste and polished as if they were of finest texture. If jade is part of the body, like we say in Chinese, I wish both to be treated well."


ankielee88.wixsite.com

"Coring Drill Sample Ring", Unearth series, 2021. 18K yellow gold, 18K paladium white gold, 14K white gold, sterling silver. Photo: Paul Ambtman.


JESS BISCHOFF

"My jewellery reflect my fascination for the extraordinary geological and mineralogical research being conducted as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. I am captivated by the mission's successional installation of robotic rovers, and the continued gathering of mass amounts of astrobiological data.
Unearth focuses on specific research gathering processes associated with some of the more recent aspects of the mission: drilling, core sampling, and sample caching.

In my more recent work, my focus has shifted towards an alternate form of appreciation for the cosmos: one in which I contemplate the achingly ephemeral nature of our existence as human beings, and how this influences the development of our identities, our emotions, and our closest familial relationships. "


www.jessbischoff.com

"Winterwaldeinsamkeit", ring, 2023. Sterling silver. Photo: Ute van der Plaats.


UTE VAN DER PLAATS

"The woods are an endless source of inspiration for me. A dive into the wonders and beauties nature offers is very often the starting point of new work. But the forests are in danger due to climate change and human interference.
The complex ecological system has become vulnerable and we need to protect it. The delicate and fragile appearance of my work aims to raise awareness of this fact. To achieve this delicate result, I cover wildflowers and tiny pieces of moss by hand with wax, cast them in sterling silver, assemble, and solder them together."


www.utevanderplaats.weebly.com   |   @utevanderplaats

Vita Pukštaite-Bruže, "Reflection", brooch, 2017. Amber, silver, enamel, gold, mammoth bone. Courtesy of Lithuanian National Museum of Art.


VILNIUS BIENNIAL / VITA PUKŠTAITĖ-BRUŽĖ

"Lithuanians have a special connection to amber, which has been considered sacred in a way, and we have legends about its origin. In the first half of the 20th century, amber became part of the national costume and has remained so ever since. However, over time, at the end of the 20th century, it accumulated a symbolic capital that encompassed not only a sacred aura and nationalism, but also a national and mass-produced kitsch."

Jurgita Ludavičienė. (Interview with SMCK Magazine, 2023)


www.metalofonas.eu   |   #metalofonas

Jakob Bengel, Bangle, 1933. Drs Margarete and Heribert Händel collection. Chrome-plated brass, notched band, Galalith. Photo: Jürgen Cullmann, Lichtblick Fotodesign.


JAKOB BENGEL FOUNDATION

The Bangle is part of the Drs Margarete and Heribert Händel Collection donated to the Jakob Bengel Foundation by the couple's daughter, heiress Aurelia Händel-Weber.
The collectors gathered antiques from across Europe and the US. They were particularly enthusiastic about jewelry from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods. Through the Jakob Bengel pattern books, their jewelry collection was proven authentic with a total of 352 originals that were produced by Jakob Bengel between 1930 and 1935.

The Jakob Bengel Foundation was established in 2001 to preserve and research the history of the jewelry and metal goods industry in Oberstein by converting the Jakob Bengel factory into an industrial monument. Together with the Department of Gemstones and Jewelry of Tier University of Applied Arts and Sciences in Idar-Oberstein, the Foundation developed a broad exhibition and artist-in-residence program for international jewelry artists.


www.jakob-bengel.de   |   @jakobbengel

Window, brooch, 2022. Print on aluminum, plastic, acrylic paint, varnish, acrylic plates, steel. Photo: S. Kieslinger.


STEFFI KIESLINGER

"The portrait and the photo are the two layers connected by the brooch that is positiioned on the chest. Each person has a different perception, so I cannot tell what the viewers' associations with the photo brooches will be.
The Window to My Heart refers to the fact that through my work I show something of myself, and thus open up a part of myself. I wear my memories, my impressions, the pictures that mean something to me on my body and make them even more my own."


www.steffikies.com   |   @steffikies_galerie

"Meteor Brooch", 2023. 925 silver, labradorite. Photo: Liu Yang.


LIU YANG

Liu Yang turns minerals that are often overlooked into unique jewelry pieces. Using 3D-printed silver, sculpted wax, and imperfect gemstones cut by CNC machines, she showcases nature's random, yet highly ordered, forms. These works have cracks, inclusions, and irregular details. They present minerals shaped by nature with astonishingly random forms, although they consist of highly ordered atomic structures.

Yang associates her jewelry with the dramatic architectural structures, and celebration of primitivism found in Brutalism movement. Those structures, in jewelry and architecture, are both primal and orderly, dramatic and stable, showing the audience a world full of explorations and wonders.


@liu_ystudio

"Flos", earrings, Shape Of Nature series, 2023. Black silver, bronze. Photo: Ekaterina Morgunova.


TAMARA TRUSOVA

"Exploring the 'Shape of Nature' is one of my central themes. My interest in Bionic architecture and design started during my studies in architecture. Bionics, an interdisciplinary science, draws inspiration from biological organisms, incorporating their physiological and structural adaptations into expressive building designs.

In my work, I am fascinated by the potential of this scientific movement to bridge architecture and jewelry design. The creation of shapes designed with the aid of mathematical models and algorithms help me a lot to understand the process and beauty of nature."


www.stl-lab.shop   |   @stl_lab

Angels and human figures praying, votive offerings, Greece, early 20th century. Hand-made objects. Photo: © Basil Papantoniou Foundation, Nafplion, Greece.


BASIL PAPANTONIOU FOUNDATION

Even today, in Christian Greece, believers adorn icons of the Madonna with silver and golden votives or even their own jewelry to ask that they be granted a favor.

The Basil Papantoniou Foundation collections now number ca. 50.000 artifacts, covering all the branches of study relating to modern culture.


www.pli.gr   |   @basil_papantoniou_foundation