Where did time go? A lot of things happened since the beginning of summer that took much of my time and energy. However I’m all the time busy designing and creating jewelry, as well as continuing my other projects in 2d art and songwriting. I also did a bit of traveling, and now I’m going to share about my visit to a jewelry exhibition in October. In fact I visited three jewelry exhibitions that week, but just had time to put together a report for the first one.
The jewelry exhibition is called ‘Eligiuksen perilliset – Kultasepänalan koulutuksen 80v- juhla’ or ‘The heirs of Eligius – The 80th anniversary of the Goldsmith’s Training’ which took place in Sibelliustalo, Lahti, about one and half hour drive from Helsinki. Lahti University of Applied Sciences together with the Federation of Finnish Goldsmiths, the Salpaus Education Center, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Provincial Artist Heli Kauhanen celebrated the 80th anniversary of the goldsmith training by organizing jewelry seminars and exhibition.
Sibelliustalo, Lahti, Finland
The premise of the exhibition is unique. It presented the work of both jewelry students and professionals, and a student was paired with a professional to work together on a theme. From the information I got, I understood that most of the pairs worked separately without really knowing the others’ projects, but there were also exceptions where they communicated more regarding what to present, and there was also at least one piece that was more like a collaboration piece.
A friend of mine, Meira Rauta, is a student of Jewelry Design in Lahti University of Applied Sciences and she presented her work there, so the exhibition was even more exciting for me!
With Meira, next to her jewelry display
The two pieces from the student and professional were presented side by side. I took the pictures with the name of the artists to make sure all names are presented correctly. Unfortunately, I don’t have the catalog which has information about the themes and materials, so I write based on what I remember.
I start with ‘Botanic Night’, the theme was suggested by Meira.
Meira Rauta’s piece “Aloe” is a neckpiece and earring. Main material: Copper. Sculptural, surprising piece. Impressive!
Meira’s partner was jewelry designer Kirsti Doukas. Material: 3D printed polyamide, gemstones.
It was interesting to see the red line that appeared between two jewelry pieces. One jewelry here featured snakes and the other featured a rabbit.
Left: professional’s work, right: student’s work
And here, both came up with armored figures.
Left: student’s work, right: professional’s work
Circles, or ‘bubbly shapes’, appeared on both pieces.
Left: student’s work, right: professional’s work
More pieces from the exhibition.
Left: professional’s work, right: student’s work
And this pair caught my attention right away. The theme was ‘Suo’ or ‘Swamp’. While the student’s work was bright, colorful and using soft materials, the professional’s work was the contrary. Interesting, right?
Left: professional’s work. Right: student’s work.
The exhibition was exciting, and I love the idea of a pair of student and professional worked on the same theme. It was a unique concept, and I’d like to see more of this kind of exhibition. I also enjoyed that there was a wide variety of materials used, from the precious metals to newspaper, and so many techniques including weaving.
I hope you enjoy my post! I told you I’ve been working in my studio. These are my newest pieces: ‘Loved Bugs’ series. Made out of Art Clay silver clay, synthetic gemstones, bronze/brass wires. They love to dance, and they’re the kind of bugs I wouldn’t mind sitting on my skin :D
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