Just in my Head

The association Plattform Schmuckkunst is organising an international group exhibition for the second time this year.

Under the title just in my head, 19 selected works by national and international jewellery artists will be shown.
The opening will take place on 13.08.2022 at 5 pm in the premises of the association Plattform Schmuckkunst, Mariahilferplatz 3, 8020 Graz, Austria.

On 14.08.2022 at 6.30 pm there will be a guided tour of the exhibition via livestream -www.instagram.com/plattform.schmuckkunst.

Afterwards, the opening video and photos of the works will also be available on the association's website - www.plattform-schmuckkunst.at.

The exhibition can be visited on site from 13.08. - 10.09.2022.

VERNISSAGE 13.08.2022 / 5 pm / Mariahilferplatz 3, 8020 Graz, Austria

LIVE-STREAM 14.08.2022 / 6.30 pm / www.instagram.com/plattform.schmuckkunst

EXHIBITION PERIOD 13.08. – 10.09.2022

VENUE Mariahilferplatz 3 / 8020 Graz / Austria

© Photos -  All rights are reserved by the respective owner.

"Salagou"

When I was 4 I went to a lake in the South of France called Salagou. I was very impressed about the bright color of its water, contrasting with the mineral surroundings.

I just stayed floating on the water for hours, its movement, colors and the sensation of peace stayed in my body since then.

During the pandemic I started to mind travel to escape from my claustrophobic living space. It has been a way for me to recall some positive and comforting memories of freedom.

The pendant Salagou is intent to embody in a physical object my impressions and memories of the Salagou Lake.

Each wavy stick of transparent Plexiglas is cut and patinated with a lasercut machine and then hand saw, drilled, painted and assembled by hand to carefully select the movement of waves.

It is assembled with polyester cord which allows the piece to moves and undulates when worn on the body.

This piece is an amulet, a key to access my own inner freedom space.

Salagou

Necklace

plexiglas, polyester, varnish

2021

"Ferment"

There is no time more profitable than solitude.

Taking care of reflection is a great way to lead new ideas to life, to make them ferment.

It seems that the human being is losing the habit of communicating with himself due to the myriad of interferences that constantly interrupt this healthy monologue. For this reason, today more than ever it would be convenient to let our daily experiences settle down and this involves very useful pauses, moments of isolation, an isolation that I consider urgent.

Transparencia is a study of the behavior of shapes through the transparency of materials.

It is also a study on movement, on the instability of apparent forms.

It is a research that invites us to be interactive with the proposed work.

Ferment

Brooch

Plexiglass, silver

2021

"Thought Patterns"

"Also at times, on the surface of streams,

Water bubbles form

And grow and burst

And have no meaning at all

Except that they're water bubbles

Growing and bursting."

from The Collected Poems of Alberto Caeiro by Fernando Pessoa

The cigarette filters fill the space.

Conductive paint, copper ions, electricity.

The piece takes shape.

A flame burning the filters.

It creates the space for new thoughts.

For bubbles growing and bursting.

Thought Patterns

Ring

Copper, silver paint

 2022

"Fragile Utopia"

People dream about all kind of things.

Many of them are hard to confess, but peace –dreaming about peace- is one of the most popular and confessable ones and yet, many people do not seem to really care about it.

So the question might be whether most people truly think about that or not.

This will unfortunately remain unanswered, but surely many people dream about peace more and more these days -when we thought we were evolving but we are still stuck where we have always been, in violence and fear-.

Good news is it only takes one thought to begin the change.

One thought that must be shared by millions of minds, yes, but one thought so powerful that might change the whole world.

Will a bunch of broken, useless and empty bullets be the seed of this thought? Or will it be just in my head?

Fragile Utopia

Necklace

Porcelain, resin, silver and ribbon.

2022

"Heart of the forest"

I live in the center of a big city and I feel a growing need to be in contact with nature, which is very far away.

Through art... creating in my workshop... I can overcome that obstacle and travel with my dreams and imagination to a forest near the beach.

Then the magic happens... and I find myself walking among pine trees, caressing beautiful lichens and dancing among eucalyptus clouds.

In my pieces… I play like in a story, I imagine stories and experience the joy of connecting with mother earth.

I am attracted to slow processes in the random search for textures and colors.

The stones hypnotize me for their beauty and history... I think they are treasures of time.

Every day I try to connect with my inner child and allow myself to create my own reality.

Heart of the forest

Necklace

Moss agate, bronze, copper, enamel, thread

2022

"Just in the Line"

These days, people are very visual and immediate.

But in a modern society where we have to judge so quickly, we may be forgetting our own characteristics that matter.

There are many different sides to this world.

The beginning of everything is a small touch.

And there are things that only humans can do at the beginning.

Seeing isn't everything.

We have to feel.

When felt by a hand, each line reveals hidden sides.

The act of a line revealing its hidden sides is like ‘reading between the lines’.

Being able to find out the meaning of things unsaid by ‘reading between the lines’ is what makes humans unique.

Humans are the only species who can see things that are invisible and hear things that haven’t been said.

There are times in one’s life where it’s necessary to devote time and effort like one does when working with silver and times when it’s necessary to find special ways, but ultimately, it’s like this brooch.

This can only become a brooch through the touch of a human hand.

A small touch is enough.

Because we can still discover meanings invisible to the eye.

Just in the Line

Brooch

sterling silver, copper

2020 - 2022

"Teaching Jewellery Skills via an Online Meeting"

 We’ve all been there.

Stagnated by the uncertainty of a perceived something/nothing.

Being “Just in my Head” can last days, weeks, years.

In that impossible spot, I revisit the skills that bring me satisfaction.

Meticulous tasks enforce concentration and allow me to be in my head, but in a constructive fashion.

This piece is from an ongoing collection of rings and objects that I revert to when required.

There is no schedule and no design plan, I make when I need to.

Size and complexity are determined by the thoughts I am working through.

Teaching Jewellery Skills via an Online Meeting is the result of my experience as a university instructor throughout the main period of Covid.

This ring is large and multi-dimensional.

It demanded a persistence and will to continue.

With each bead, the shape evolves as the stitch pulls the felt tighter.

Eventually all that is left is tangible evidence (a ring) of a fear overcome.

Teaching Jewellery Skills via an Online Meeting

Ring

felt, glass beads and cotton

2020 - 2022

"Murmuration II"

The colour of black in my jewelry is mostly dramatically graceful, more like a mourning veil than that of black soil.

Kind of murmuration of starlings.

It´s spectacle of nature and also theatre in my mind, where semitones have no place.

The volume is turned up, shadows are deep and the glitter opalescent.

Murmuration II

Brooch

Copper, silver, Japanese lacquer, hair, citrine

2021

"In the Beginning 14"

The stories I crate in my head are usually my deepest desires or nightmares of my fears.

How hard it is to see what it is.

In the Beginning 14

Brooch

Iron, soil from the artist garden, enamel, epoxy

 2020

 "Overthinking"

Made of 0.5 sterling silver plate. bent into shape.

I dedicate this ring to all the pieces that, before they could prove themselves, have been wiped out on my imaginary pro and contra list.

Represented by a notepad, these thoughts stand like a wall between my head and my hands.

A small doubt becomes a big one.

A fear is mulled over until it becomes gigantic.

A piece of paper becomes a barrier of metal.

The phenomenon of overthinking...

Overthinking

Object

Paper, sterling silver

2022

"Schlüsselcollier"

Besides all the ideas and thoughts which we constantly share with others, either spoken or given form, we have plenty which never leave our head.

These form a construct of ideas and fantasies in our heads.

They reside in the most private as well as wildest corner of someone’s mind.

There is no other place where one is as alone with oneself and at the same time as free as in one’s own fantasies, thoughts, and dreams – without limits or the obligation of sharing them.

Nothing is too big or too out of reach to shape in thoughts.

The “Schlüsselcollier” points out one’s own responsibility to keep or to share thoughts consciously.

The key’s weight and size on the other hand indicate the value of this thoughts-filled-world and the respect we should show to someone opening themselves up to us.

Schlüsselcollier

Necklace

Brass, Steel

2021

"Just out of my head"

A one-sided headache is a common migraine symptom.

Often the pain is concentrated in the area of one eye or on the temple.

"Just out of my head" is worn on this area of the face. It is simply placed on the facial region while lying down.

The 1 mm thick tin plate can be easily deformed by hand.

It can therefore be adapted very well to the particular facial topography.

The cool heaviness of the tin plate creates a pleasant and relaxing feeling on the skin.

Tensions are absorbed by the tin plate and transferred to the Tensegrity (bronze sticks and nylon yarn) mounted on the plate.

The Tensegrity transforms the tensions and releases them to the environment.

Just out of my head

Object / Face jewelry

Zinn, Bronze, Nylon

2022

"Shell brooch"

Look. Me. You. Us. Women.

On the outside defined shapes, smoothness, shine. Mimicking.

It's a surface that looks back at you and reflects in your look a part of me, beyond what is shown or even what overflows.

From the graphics, it leaves room for the imagination.

To the touch, exposed texture. Enjoy. Come. Cry. Ovulate. Silence, deconstructs, reconnects. Transform.

Shell brooch

Brooch

Silver 950 & pearls

2021

"Just in my head"

Each of us lives both inner and outer lives.

The outer self embodies how we present ourselves to the general public.

It's a surface image where we usually try to portray the best of ourselves.

Therefore, this part often does not fully reflect who we really are inside.

It tends to give in to external pressure and live up to society's expectations.

A conflict between the inner and the outer "I" or a marked imbalance between them is quite a common issue.

In other words, a person may think one thing but do another to please the surrounding society.

My work is about how in order to preserve our inner world, values, we sometimes have to distance ourselves from the norms dictated by society and keep the most personal things only to ourselves, just in our head.

Just in my head

Brooch

Copper, ginkgo leaf, organic glass, print, quartz, stainless steel

2021

"Hidden Plans"

Starting point for my project is my passion for fungi.

I feel important relationship between complicated system of mycellium' s connections and connections of neurons in our brain.

As well as bubbles in my mind are the result of the activity of my brain, fungi are the result of the activity of mycellium.

Mushrooms, growing from my ring, are carrying little scraps from my old notebook, full of unrealized projects.

These ideas are parts of hidden mycellium of my mind.

This ring is made of bronze wire, solder and a little piece of shibuichi.

It is oxidized and partly covered by microcrystalline wax.

Paper inside is removable and exchangeable with another piece.

Hidden Plans

Ring

Bronze, shibuichi, paper

2022

"Deterioration"

Moments of trauma mark pivotal shifts in my life that have forever altered my perception of self.

Coinciding with lifelong dysthymic depression, these ailments are both a morbid source of inspiration and a debilitation.

My work is a means of articulating my trauma and coping with dysthymic depression.

Due to trauma’s unrepresentable nature, I rely on engendered emotion as an intrinsic component in the creation of meaning.

I construct empathetic experiences through sensory-based affects that are understood through a compassionate engagement.

These embodied translations of experience are my way of conveying that which is beyond conventional comprehension.

Deterioration

Brooch

Stainless steel, tread

2020

"Vice"

This piece fits perfectly with the theme of the exhibition, it is a hermetic piece, it tells a very personal story, it is a complaint, only I know who it is dedicated to, and that is how it should continue to be.

It is the part that I am most passionate about the jewelry I make, it is a vehicle to channel inner emotions, my phobias, but only mine.

Nobody ask me what they mean, they belong only to my interior, they are in my head.

Vice

Brooch

Oxidized silver, copper, plastic, steel, photo printing and synthetic stones.

2022

"By Human Hand and Heart"

The content in my necklace “By Human Hand and Heart” is just in my head because the necklace is made of destroyed letters.

Letters which were written to me long time ago and which I had to tear apart because I was moving from a big house to a small apartment where there was not space for all my saved things and memories.

But when the letters where in small pieces I almost regret what I had done.

The handwritten letters were very beautiful and full of feelings.

Now the pieces remind me of what I just have in my head – the memories of my letters.

A string of beads made of handwritten letters from different persons joined with knots of red silk – that is my statement of love and care.

By Human Hand and Heart

Object / Necklace

Paper, pieces of handwritten letters, thread of silk

2021

"X O"

Everyone has played a computer game at least once in their life or at least has an idea of how it goes.

It is said that the most interesting and unpredictable game is life itself, which takes place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Most of the time it seems that we are in control of it ourselves, but we often get the impression that everything is decided for us.

It's as if our enemy is fate itself, leaving us no chance to win this game.

Will you be the fighter to play this game with passion to the end?

X O

Ring

Silver, upcycled wood, black marker

2022