Belgium Catch-up: Jewelry Award 12

Isabelle Costy

Last week on my way to the studio I made a special trip to ING Brabo Hall to see "Jewelry Award 12," a student show that focused on the theme of energy. The work ranged from contemporary pieces 

with stones to more sculptural ones, like the tiny Airstream-like piece pictured below. 

Geoffrey Fiems

C. Van Wassenhove

Gisella Gijbels

Thanks for reading. 

Belgium Catch-up: This is Not Diamond

Ikaros Moushouttas

On July 28 I went to Brussels with Karin and Hervee to attend the opening of, "This is Not Diamond." The show featured the work of Arnaud Sprimont, Barbara Deriemaeker, Nina Airapetova, Carine Van Landeghem, and Ikaros Moushouttas. Each artist had a unique body of work on display, some of which I had seen back in June. It was great to see the work again and this time to have conversations with the artists about their work The show was bustling with guests and my wine glass seemed to fill magically. Afterward, Karin and Hervee and I went to dinner. Such a great 
night!

 Carine Van Landeghem

 Karin talking to Arnaud 

 Arnaud Sprimont

 Barbara Deriemaeker

  Nina Airapetova

Nina and I

Thanks to Barbara Deriemaeker for all the great pictures!

Thanks for reading.

Belgium Catch-up: New Shops

I have two new shops in Belgium: M HKA, Antwerp's museum of contemporary art and Creme de la Crema in Roeselare. M KHA now has my work via Beyond Fashion who keeps a selection of jewelry in the museum shop there. Creme de la Crema is a gallery, studio, and coffeelab owned by jeweler Cynthia Jacobs and her husband, Michal Van De Moortel. I will be making a small collection for them (hopefully) before I leave Belgium. The shop has lots of great work including Cynthia's and Jeannette Jansen.

M HKA

Creme de la Crema Gallery

Brooch by Jeannette Jansen

Creme de la Creme Coffeelab

More pictures of Creme de la Crema on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.

Belgium Catch-up: Contemporary Art

"Misconceivable" by Erwin Wurm, 2012 at Middleheim Park in Antwerp

It's catch-up time. I haven't had a chance yet to tell you about a few things I've seen since arriving in Belgium that I found both interesting and inspiring. Here are a few contemporary art works that I love:

The top image is a life-size boat by Erwin Wurm that drips over the edge of a stone wall at the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp. I saw this from a car one day and it made quite an impression on me in that brief moment. I took a walk there later to see it up close and for more than a few seconds; then I liked it even more.

The next two images are from an incredible contemporary art exhibition in Genk: Manifesta 9, the biennial of European contemporary art. It was held in the complex of a former coal mine complete with crumbling walls and peeling paint. The setting alone made the trip for me, but this piece by Ni Haifeng in particular really got my attention. 

Para-Production by Ni Haifeng

2012 

at Manifesta 9 in Genk

On a recent visit to Knokke I saw "Dune" by Arne Quinze. I love it for its repetition, implied movement, simple construction, and the palette of white and fluorescent orange.

 "Dune" by Arne Quinze, 2010 in Knokke

Finally, I saw this piece by Richard Deacon when visiting an exhibition in the ING Brabo Hall building in Antwerp. (I'll tell you about that exhibition soon.) I love the line of this piece. I also love that I stumbled upon it much like all the other pieces mentioned here. I really had no idea I would see these things until I was in front of them, even the work at Manifesta 9. Yes, I knew I was going to Genk to see the show, but I had no idea just how amazing it would be.

Sculpture by Richard Deacon, 2001 in ING Brabo Hall in Antwerp

More images of Manifesta 9 on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.

Guest Star #96...Daniel Von Weinberger

One of the books Linda Savineau loaned me is about Daniel Von Weinberger, today's Guest Star. I read the entire book, Plastique, C'est Chic, and loved, loved, loved it. It often reads like a poem as it details the life and work of a truly remarkable person. Daniel's jewelry is extravagant, composed of all sorts of materials from plastic toys and beads to glass shards and ribbon with just about everything in between. The assemblage-style necklaces are also a contraction--they appear to be the opposite of Daniel, a devout Orthodox Jew.  

Daniel's story is fascinating. I won't bother to explain it all to you now, my writing will not do it justice. However, you can watch a wonderful video, titled "My Way", that is well-worth its seven minute length even though it's entirely in Dutch. I can't understand one word of it, but get a good sense of Daniel and his work. It shows him picking up a flattened can off the street and putting it in his pocket and later shows him in his studio sorting frogs from mounds of plastic toys. I imagine him talking about how he chooses materials and explaining his process. Toward the end of the video you see him standing among the works in his exhibition, "Plastique C'est Chic - Bijoux Eternels" at Grand-Hornu in 2010. You can also read (in English!) a great interview here. After watching the video and reading the book and interview, I got this feeling that this person absolutely loves what he does and makes work for all the right reasons in the most genuine way possible. 

Thanks for reading.

Progress with Materials

AVA for paper doilies

In addition to all the incredible things I see everyday here in Antwerp, I am finding that there are specific materials that also serve as inspiration for my new work. Some of my sightseeing excursions have included seeing materials that spark ideas. When this happens I take pictures or make a mental note. Then I spend time thinking about what I can do with the material in relation to my new work. Good examples of this are the patterned metal and the teardrop chain I saw a few weeks ago. I did not return to buy them until later, and then later again, after I had figured out how I would use them. In addition, I have gone on many a bus ride over the past few weeks in search of rabbit fur, fabric, ribbon, plastic lace, Belgian lace, paper doilies, and, of course, metal. I often feel like I am on the hunt or something because so many of these trips feel rather epic: I make this long journey in search of the perfect black satin ribbon...My next trip is to de Zijdeworm for lace. I could be there awhile.

Stoffenpalais for fabric and ribbons

 Akotee for plastic lace

Brico for patterned metal, teardrop chain, and brass tubing

P.C. Boschman's for metal

de Wieuw for steel wire for pin stems

de Zijdeworm for lace

Thanks for reading.

Progress with Help

Linda in her studio

I met this awesome lady at the SNAG conference in May. Her name is Linda Savineau and she's a metalsmith who lives just outside of Antwerp. She's also a very generous and helpful person. A few weeks ago she invited me over to her home to see her studio and to borrow tools. We had such a good visit and I left with a couple bags of stuff including a Dremel tool, dapping block and punches, a bench light, soldering accessories, ring mandrel, pickle acid, liver of sulfur, flux, a 

B & S gauge, and more. She also loaned me a few books from her library. Since then she has been a great resource for finding tools and materials in the city. She even brought me sterling from her stock and a delicious lunch. Oh, yeah, she makes some pretty great things, too. Big thanks, Linda!

 spaceship piggy bank

 studio

library

ethnic pieces collected while traveling

 plastic necklace

collections in shadow boxes

traditional Flemish asparagus

You can watch a great video Linda made for the SNAG conference about her work and the materials she uses. It even won an award!

Thanks for reading.