From an early age I was fascinated by the connection between different materials which can be shaped into one creation; I used to collect “pieces of junk” from the street and from them I created “different” jewelry for myself and my friends.
When they asked me, as a child, what I want to do when I grow up, I said: “Make jewelry”.
Over the years I developed an ability for providing creative expression to the inner world of my acquaintances and, later, of my clients. I created unique items for them that expressed their very different and diverse personalities. It is a capability that I continue to develop until now, after 15 years of work in jewelry-making and art.
My creative journey led me to other countries. I lived and worked in Japan for nearly two years, I studied Gold and Silver crafting in a very special school for Contemporary Jewelry Design in Florence which is different from most schools and academies of jewelry-making.
During the four years of my studies I got to know and learn from well-known Silver- and Gold-smiths, from whom I learned, in addition to a great many jewelry-making techniques, how to integrate and merge the different cultures – traditional and contemporary – as well as the noble and industrial materials.
I was never satisfied with conventional materials but I was always examining different substances. I wanted to create a new language where diverse materials connect into a design statement. I learned to “cook” Japanese alloys composed of pure Silver, Copper and Gold. I experimented with a variety of different materials such as Plexiglas, dark African wood, Iron, casted Aluminum, poured Concrete and Purple Heart wood from South America and, on the other hand, also textiles, leather, rough gemstones and 18, 22 and 24 Kt Gold.
I discovered that when I create a piece of jewelry it helps me to study and learn about the inner world of the person for whom I am creating it, as an integral part of the process.
Each ‘custom-made’ item I create expresses a personal and individual world that is filled with emotions, needs and passions.
My goal is to enable my customers to wear an artistic object that was created especially for them. I believe in different beauty. I believe in aesthetics that are not confined only by commercial considerations. I see the beauty and the magic that also exist in raw materials that are not necessarily perceived as being materials from which jewelry is normally created
I see the beauty in them, just as I find uniqueness and beauty in different people.
Photos: Naama M. Kostiner.
