Winners of the Preziosa Young Design Competition 2019

Selection results
We received 147 applications from all over the world: lots of candidates, and a lot of work for the jury, which this year was as follows:

The jury team consists of:
Maria Cristina Bergesio, art critic, curator, teacher.
Tasso Mattar, artist and curator.
Maria Rosa Franzin, artist and teacher.
Robert Mazlo, artist and gallerist (La Joaillerie par Mazlo), Paris.
Irene Belfi, gallerist (Irene Belfi Gallery), Milan.

The artists who received the most votes from the jurors were:
Yajie Hu, from China;
Koen Jacobs, from the Netherlands;
Jongseok Lim, from the Republic of Korea.


Schedule of the Exhibition
A selection of objects of the three selected is presented in the PREZIOSA space at the Inhorgenta fair (Munich, Germany), from 22nd to 25th February 2019.
By the end of June 2019, the full PY 2019 exhibition will be held in Florence, and the complete catalogue will be published.
In the following months the exhibition will be hosted in other galleries, including the already confirmed:
- Mid-July 2019, La Joaillerie by Mazlo Gallery, Paris
- October 2019, Padua, San Rocco Oratory
- December 2019: Belfi Gallery, Milan.

The three candidates will also participate in the selection for the LAO Special Prize (three months as Artist in Residence in Florence) and the Special Award Inhorgenta (a free exhibition space for the 2020 edition of the fair).


Yajie Hu
As an artist, I am naturally attracted to colour and texture, as well as art as a tangible, wearable object. I investigate the colours, textures and shapes of some interesting animals, such as snakes and chameleons. I also study the striking colours of carnivorous plants as their approach is to attract insects into their deadly clutches.
These interests have inspired me to create my jewellery collections.
I primarily work with acrylic paint as my ideas are best expressed through it. Working with acrylic paint allows me to be in direct contact with colour. I therefore not only investigate its visual qualities but also explore it as a useable material. At the same time, my designs are based on organic forms, which are then transformed and designed into my own aesthetic pieces.
I aim for my designs to be worn on the body, but also to be valued as art objects.

Koen Jacobs
The Artificial Kingdom
My work is about reliving memories of my childhood. An escape to a child’s naive dreamworld, where they playfully discover the world around them and the beauty of nature. A skeleton is a carrier of past memories and a device for recreating them.
Wearing and playing my marionette animal-skeletons will trigger childhood memories and evoke the naive playful child in you. Just like time adds layers to nature and memories, my animal-skeletons are in a process of transformation, creating a new image.

Jongseok Lim
In our daily life insects might be too petty to grab our attention. Unknowingly, however, we have a close relationship with them which has a far-reaching effect on our lives. When I was young, insects were an object that stirred my curiosity and their peculiar shape left a strong impression on me.
Now, as an adult, they are a means to bring back my childhood memories.
Their impressive appearance is a result of their inevitable evolution in order to coexist with the changing environments of today. Insects are evolving to survive in a fast transforming ecosystem.