Talente Competition 2017 Winners

As every year a huge number of applications reached us from the field of jewellery so that it was exceptionally difficult for the jury to make here a selection. One subject concerned the examinations of contemporary ideals of beauty - in Asia and in the West as well - , and the fear of changes due to aging processes. A second subject exploreed the ways of dealing with stones and a third subject deal with the use of different, sometimes cheap everyday objects like concrete, plastic, steel, rubber balloons, foam, digitally worked photos and acryl as well as aluminium cans. In many works the motif of alienation and the transformation of materials plays an important part.
 
This year the field of technique was especially broad: Beside magnet lamps and a novel designs for a sink, there were shown among others crystals growing on textiles, textiles reacting to humidity and a changeable tent. 
 
This year again the combination of different unusual ideas, novel conceptual and aesthetic approaches are part of the main attractions of “Talente”. The exhibits presented the pursuit of innovation and unusual ways as well as the wish to connect these new attitudes with traditional craftsman skills to keep this alive. The exhibits documented the search for new forms, for an own contemporary language and the striving for functionality, the enjoyment of experiment.
/ Dr. Michaela Braesel & Wolfgang Lösche, Director.


Winners and cathegories:

Adéla Wiesenbergová, Czech Republic. Wood.
These poetic works push the boundaries between jewellery and fashion and document at the same time the experiment with different materials in fashion. The works interest by their lightness and fragility, because of the cocoon-like qualities and the Japanese inspirations especially in relation to eroticism and to approaches in clothing and dressing. There is a very subtle relationship of closeness and distance between the work and the body beneath.
 
Machteld Lambeets, Belgium. Plastics.
Lambeets experiments with materials, traditions, forms and volumina. Her works possess an impressive plastic quality and a fascinating surface structure which does not weakens by a close observation but always present new aspects and surprises. The vessels seem almost like landscapes.
 
Luise Hellmann, Germany. Ceramics.
Luise's tiles are characterised by contrast: They seem to date on the first glance from the 17th century and to originate from the Mediterranean but are indeed very contemporary tiles. They are indeed modern interpretations of their historical predecessors playing with history and tradition. The tiles not only react in certain irregularities upon their material but are also of marked individuality. In this and in the very plastic conception they form a marked contrast to contemporary industrial tile production and the fashionable trend for material imitation concerning tiles.
 
Kana Ueda, Japan. Ceramics.
Ueda’s round vessels convinced the jury by their haptic and optical qualities. The fine lines of the surface invite to suggest different materials like stones or fur. These illusionistic qualities are repeated with the material: The vessels seem to be quite light but are in fact rather compact and heavy.
 
Yasutomo Ota, Japan/Germany. Paper.
 Ota is interested in aspects concerning the character and the form of a book. He asks about the different ways in which a book can be designed and which ways are possible. He pushes the traditions of bookbinding with his aim to translate the subject of text into a concrete form. The subject of a specific text therefore experiences a tactile and three dimensional translation and relates to the surrounding space.
 
Woo Jung Kim, South Korea. Jewellery.
Kim works especially in her bracelet with different levels of illusion. She plays with the concept of luxury asking what really makes precious stones precious. She employs optical illusions relating to traditional jewellery techniques and also plays with forms insofar as the bracelet is based on the form of a ring.
 
Carla Movia, Italy. Jewellery.
Movia creates out of a cheap waste product - tin cans - three series or families of jewellery. Her works deal with issues of preciousness, the anthropomorphic and technique. At the same time they polarise and therefore invite to discussion and controversy.
 
Ortal Bonen, Israel. Textile.
Bonen’s textile designs convince by the subtlety of the weaving and their delicacy. By reducing the aspect of colour the spectator is invited to concentrate on the material itself, on structure and texture. This is underlined by fine changes throughout the fabric. In some aspects of form the textiles seem to relate to traditional fabrics and forms in Israel.