My interest in jewelry started in childhood with the first bag of beads. I was like the ancient people adorned themselves with simple beads made from shells, teeth and bones of animals. For those naive people pendants and necklaces were not just a decoration but had had a sacral meaning. They employed as talismans for successful hunting or against the bad eye, further they were used in magic rituals. For me it was something like that: every piece has its own value and history, there were no colour or shape without particular sense, each small thing was unique and unrepeatable.
I think especially this feeling of originality and specific role of adornment led me to jewelry. Visiting The Armoury Chamber in Moscow Kremlin with all the fantastic attributes of tsar's power and Treasure Gallery in The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg just strengthened me in this way. Jewelry can have plenty of names: power, money, luxury, force and glory. But it should never be boring and ordinary. It should always have its own voice and sense.
Here in London I learned a lot about contemporary art, design and jewelry as the intersection of these trends. Visiting Victoria & Albert Museum gave a conception of huge adornment variety from ancient times to conceptual works of nowadays. However far more I was inspired by workmanship of some modern artists originated absolutely unique and independent style. Firstly it is Tiffany Parbs who changed the whole definition of timeless life of jewelry. Using skin as indispensable background and stamping on it simple words and ornaments she creates her "ephemeral" jewelry. By way of contrast Melanie Bilenker composes reminding jewelry employing also elements of human body - hairs. And finally the most strange and inventive Norman Cherry's body medications converting bone shapes and skin surface. All these different approaches in using organic materials made me think about the relationship between the body and the object, body prolongation, memory of body.
The clear idea and its good realization are two interconnected and equally important aspects of any piece of art. Therefore I consider that the greatest value of my Foundation course is understanding and awareness of how to work with idea and increase it in your own way. The most unexpected and difficult component of this process was research. Jumping from idea to idea and using associations only look to be simple. But in the other hand it is the most exiting moment, soaring imagination. Moreover I realized that the most interesting and effective for me is ongoing process, handwork, physical manipulating with different materials as well as alteration and destruction of objects. I used to work with various matters which can hold the form such as wire, metal netting, modeling material. Far hardest and at the same time the biggest achievement for me was to feel freely during experimentations even if they seem to be effectiveness and unsuccessful. But sometimes it is unexpected experiment that gives ideas and new direction of development.
From BA course I anticipate more skills and techniques as well as huge knowledge about minerals, crystals, metals and how to mix them and unite in whole integral piece. I just do not want to stay anymore in that undeveloped stone age.
