Drawing Palladium Silver by Stefano Marchetti

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Stefano Marchetti

Stefano Marchetti, 1970, was born in Padova in Italy, where he graduated at Istituto Statale d’Arte “Pietro Selvatico”, Department of Metals and Jewellery Design. He lives and works in Padova. His works are preserved in various collections all over the world such as Musée des Arts Décoratifs (FR), Museum voor Moderne Kunst (NL), Museum of Art & Design (AM), Schmuckmuseum (GE), Victoria and Albert Museum (ENG), Swiss National Museum, (SW), Museo degle Argenti (IT).

In the late '80s, my first works were influenced by the ideas of French Post-Impressionism. I wanted to use different metals to make drawings with them, and in order to achieve this, I tried to structure together gradients of brightness in successive shades by combining small elements of gold, silver and copper. It was a failure, but as a side effect from that study, I obtained the metal mosaics, becoming since then the core of my production for many years.

In 2016, more than 25 years later, I wanted to try, once again, to draw by metals. I was lucky right from the first attempt – probably because I had better experience and I was able to choose the proper materials – Thus I produced the first pieces. Silver and palladium  allowed me to make it. The process could be classified as an extreme kind of mokumé gane, combined in a complex, wafer-thin foil. I quit experimenting with thickness once I reached 0.03mm for each metal layer, because at that point one needed a magnifying glass to see the  patterns: I think we'd better remember that we are not here to challenge machinery. Nevertheless, by voluntarily inserting well reasoned mistakes on the billet, I am convinced that this process may offer a chance for more metal poetry.

Some of the works here obtained, are showing an apparent freedom in their design, comparing with those usually made with the various mokumé processes. The look of them come close to that of drawing by pencil on paper or, in other cases, the result can even recall watercolors. Combination of different metals soldered together, is a field that can be successfully explored still, without using complicated tools. All you need is: fire, a few files, a hammer, your own curiosity and a bit of skill. Forcing metals to look like something else and tempering their intrinsic cold nature, is something that probably will stay with me forever.

Jewellery. A place where I can find and express myself.
Mentor. Maestro Francesco Pavan.
Contemporary Art trend. From the French Post-Impressionism to the investigation of any revolution, focusing on the scientific field as well.
School. The Padova School, even if it seems not easy to define what exactly this means today.
Type. Brooch.
Theme. Experimentation with materials.
You, your jewellery, them. Person A has ears similar to person B, who has eyes similar to person C. Persons C and A have nothing in common, aside from person B. This is how I view relationships between me, my creations and the people who choose them. My jewellery are : “person B”.
Evolution. The Pixel. Naturalistic forms. Metal micro-mosaic applied to spatial volumes. Relationship between science and art.
Value. Aesthetic need.
Gold. Pleasure.
Art Jewel. Amazing insanity.

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