Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School. MFA degree show 2017. In Contact by Aniya Dunkley

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Aniya Dunkley

Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School is pleased to present In Contact, a solo exhibition featuring the graduate work of Aniya Dunkley, an MFA candidate in the Contemporary Jewellery and Body Ornaments program at Alchimia on view December 14, 2017. This exhibition includes Aniya’s body of work that is being presented as her thesis and is a culmination of her studies throughout her tenure at Alchimia, which also includes two years prior to her master’s coursework.  
 
Prior to studying jewelry, Aniya worked as an attorney and moved extensively throughout the United States and then abroad. As her passion began to focus more on art and jewelry design, she found herself further adrift from her close network of family and friends.  This collection is based on the concept of staying In Contact with one’s roots even as we evolve, never losing sight of the fact that we will always be one part of a greater whole.   
 
Through this work, Aniya demonstrates the impact of texture and how to elevate a simple form into something curious, unique and beautiful simply by affecting the surface of an object with a small, delicate but precise detail.

In Aniya’s research, jewellery is a state of mind. Thanks to a versatile usage of a mindful material like wood, her pieces become tools for reflecting about time and humanity, connecting as well disconnecting fragments of hidden memories or unsaid emotions. Her research goes beyond her own individuality thus echoing the world around (and even unknown to) herself. Every piece puts a body in contact with itself, becoming aware of the potential, imaginative or totally real relationships, stories, generations that defines our life.
/ Riccardo Lami, Curator and Art Historian.  
 
Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School is located in Florence, Italy. The school focuses on combining traditional jewelry techniques and the use of carefully selected materials with experimental and groundbreaking approaches to design.  Students are mentored by a variety of experts in traditional and contemporary art jewelry as well as design and visual arts.  The school’s philosophy is that there cannot be any true innovation without the knowledge of what came before. Tradition and innovation, like mind and hand, need to move together.