Eva Van Kempen
Jeweller
/
MunichJewelleryWeek2020
Published: 01.07.2024
evavankempen.comBio
Eva van Kempen (1976) is an experienced goldsmith and jewelry artivist. With a BA in HRM, Van Kempen received her MA from Sandberg Institute, Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam in 2020. Her work is exhibited internationally in shows in Europe, Asia, and the US and is part of several private and public collections.Her work evolved drastically when she was confronted with serious health issues. Van Kempen’s collections reflect her fascination with human potential, specifically related to achievements in the medical and specialized goldsmithing fields.
In 2015 the artist presented her LifeLines jewellery line, made from safely recycled hospital waste. With these works, she demonstrated the inherent exquisiteness and value of a range of medical equipment and implements. A solo exhibition was presented at Amsterdam Medical Centre (AMC), where she used to be a patient. A solo exhibition Ready-To-Bear in Museum de Fundatie followed (2017-2018).
One part of Van Kempen’s eclectic practice focuses on craft heritage and filigree, a roughly 4,600-year-old ornamental jewelry specialization, of which she has been a practitioner since 2010. For her master's thesis, she conducted field research into filigree in both the Netherlands and China, during an artist's residency at San W in Shanghai. In collaboration with Traditionow, Van Kempen was part of a residency program concerned with Royal Chinese Filigree Inlay at the Filigree Museum in Shantou, Guangdong Province.
In response to the impending extinction in the Netherlands of this time-consuming technique, in 2020 Van Kempen launched the Instagram page The Filigree Ambassador. It was later renamed The Filigree Embassy. Instead of mourning the loss of tradition in the face of technological change, the designer chooses to socialize basic filigree knowledge production and emphasize its meditative aspects. Practicing an intangible cultural heritage while engaging in a new form of self-care in today’s fast-paced society, she argues, can provide people with a sense of place and purpose, which can be beneficial to their well-being.
In August 2022, with the support of Creative Industries Fund NL, Van Kempen launched The Filigree Embassy, an online, open-source filigree knowledge platform in Dutch. Aiming to repopularise filigree in the Netherlands, she innovates, safeguards, and shares filigree knowledge in collaboration with designers, practitioners, teachers, art historians, and enthusiasts.
Statement
The inspiration for the series "LifeLines" (2015), "Scents of Life" (2017), "Ready-To-Bear" (2017), “Planned Parenthood" (2018-2020) and "Freedom as Luxury” (2020) finds its origin in medical materials and medicine. I am fascinated by what manmade medical materials and medicine can mean for a human life and for humanity as a whole. Designed for the human body, I feel that these materials have the perfect scale to become jewels. Driven by an urge to reanimate safe hospital waste - expired intravenous systems, syringes and medicine - I aim to honour and restore these materials to what they could have meant. The works invite the viewer to look with new eyes and rethink prevailing notions on medical materials, societal or even humanitarian issues.CV 
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