Andrea Wagner
Published: 11.03.2024
yahoo.com
Bio
Andrea Wagner is a contemporary jeweller living and practicing in Amsterdam. Wagner graduated in 1997 with a degree in jewellery studies, under the instruction of Ruudt Peters, from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. As an active member of the contemporary jewellery community, Wagner has recieved national and international recognition as a maker and curator. Her work is featured internationally in exhibitions and private as well as public collections including: MAD Museum of Art & Design New York, Museums of Fine Arts in Houston, Boston, and Montreal, Françoise van den Bosch Collection and the Netherlands Textile Museum. In 2007 and 2008, Wagner curated and organized the touring exhibition, "Golden Clogs, Dutch Mountains", across seven venues in the US and Canada, and she was also the co-curator for "Walking the Gray Area" in Mexico City, 2010.Statement
My work over the years has been fueled by idiosyncrasies of human nature, of communication and social interaction, or with how we manage certain internalized aspects and realizations of life around us. Using materiality is an integral part in how I visualize and communicate concepts. A major component in how I work is the experimentation with material characteristics, testing variations for resulting effects to achieve intriguing tactile surface structures.Mémoires d'Eau Series
Since time immemorial each and every water molecule on earth has always been present /
Passed countless times through states of liquid, solid, or steam /
At some point moved through everything... land, bodies of water, living beings.... been part of everything /
Life contains water / Water is life / Without water we are nothing / We are made up of at least 60% water /
Water retains resonance in a homeopathic sense /
This translates to inherent holistic memory /
Water is extremely powerful in fostering wellbeing /
Water cures assist healing/
Water acquires the resonances of places it's been - the good, the bad, and the ugly /
The idea of water consciousness as demonstrated by Dr. Masaru Emoto or Veda Austin /
We lose ourselves peacefully gazing into water /
The mesmerizing scintillation of water ripplings /
The devastating power of crashing waves /
The soothing calm of trickling water /
How much reflected light can water absorb?
How many sunrises, how many sunsets, how many storms?
What stories would we find crystallized in water?
Which resonant memories might the water of pristine Antarctic ice melt hold?
What wisdom could water convey?
"The Architect Who Faced His Jardin Intérieur” and “...And The Architect Is Still Facing His Jardin Intérieur” Series
(Jardin intérieur, French: inner garden - private landscape of our mind)
Snapshots of a not yet existing reality in which architecture and nature are fused in complete symbiosic existence in a not yet existing reality. Or views of an inner garden or private landscape of the mind - a playful metaphor of facing up to one's secret dreams, yearnings, and ideas, weaving them into reality.
The idea of home and travels - both past and future - leave a fingerprint of influence in Wagner's jewelry pieces which in turn lends the work an additional resemblance of layered impressions of an extended travel log.
An additional playful metaphor on an internal level is the comparison of an inner garden or private landscape of the mind to mean facing up to one's secret dreams, yearnings, and ideas, plucking them from their usual mental lonely and forgotten seclusion and weaving them into reality.
Why not wholeheartedly embrace a dream that at first seems unrealistic?
Subset Synergism - Tales Of Migration Series
‘If you’re not confused, you don’t know what’s going on’
This tale - about processes of migration, about perching bravely and happily between two camps - is based on my multicultural background. I observe, comment and reflect upon living in different cultures simultaneously. Through my work I express the inner landscape of cultural hybrids, life in ‘in-between spaces’ with diverse cultural baggage. Having experienced the intricacies of mastering a new language I am familiar with the sensitivity required in adapting to another cultural mindset while not ignoring one’s own origins. There is a knack to get the best out of two or even three worlds. The overlapping and merging of different cultures creates a result that is more than merely the sum of their parts. At the same time this proces breaks up established cultural forms and re-arranges them into new and stronger patterns. All of these thoughts are materialized in my work.
While losing myself gladly in translation I have created a new richness in my jewelry.
/ Monika Auch, Amsterdam - artist, writer journalist.
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