Darja Popolitova. Estonian Academy of Arts. New Graduates 2015

Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia.

Darja Popolitova - Androgyny: jewellery beyond gender
For my thesis, I analysed jewellery through the prism of androgyny. The concept of androgyny and jewellery became closely connected. I most profoundly found the spirit of androgyny in hybrid materials. I attempted to draw a parallel between the materials and the concept in theory as well as in practice.

My jewellery collection symbolizes the rhythm of duality in two separate series. The series “Fazis” represents the development of androgyny and the feelings of two parts yearning to be whole. In the initial phase, the full fusion is still apparent, and the only thing revealed is the will of the forms through the establishment of neutral relations and the avoidance of rough texture in favor of flowing transitions. The full merging occurred in the next series “Metanoia” where the result of androgyny is to find the lost halves of a whole. Through the gradually unfolding rhythms, I found the materials I wished to use: homogeneous hybrid materials (synthetically processed natural materials).

Another important facet is technology. Before the components of jewellery became a finished piece, they had to undergo several phases of modification – from material to digital. Similar to a principle of androgyny is technology’s bodiless character. The physical opportunity to cross the limits emerges through the application of 3D techniques such as printing layers in the process of other layers (“Fazis” series) and 3D milling (“Metanoia” series).

There are two major opinions about the comprehension of androgyny. The first opinion states that in the future, the biological characteristics of man and woman will be merged into one being that is able to self-fertilise. The other opinion states that the people of the future will rid themselves of their physical bodies only to re-emerge as spirits.

Antiquity paints the perfect primal-man as an androgyne; in turn, modern man views the androgyne as a character in the future in two separate cases. The first vision establishes the androgyne as a mystical being, as is found in the theosophical essays of Nikolay Berdyaev and Helena Blavatsky. The second viewpoint sees the androgyne as a realistic, post-gender figure, as is illustrated by the philosophical-fiction works and the utopias of Georg Petros. This futuristic androgyne represents the gradual embodiment of androgyny that forms the perfect, holistic human.

The conclusion was, that the mind and the material world will become fused together in androgyny, and we will draw nearer to a brand-new perception of a person; one who is more self-sufficient, who feels secure in the social sphere and who lacks dominant and aggressive tendencies in communication. This person is still self-confident; he demonstrates high self-esteem, self-confidence and self-acceptance.

In conclusion, when sexual energy is changed to creativity or asceticism, it demands additional attention, turning our views again onto bodily values. However, hermaphroditism cannot yet be perceived as the pure version of androgyny. The most important aspect is to connect the spiritual and the material qualities. I applied this challenge to the materiality of jewellery. It was difficult to recreate the quality of wholeness without simply combining materials; therefore, I decided upon the full dissolution of one material inside the other. Through innovative technologies and hybrid materials, I endeavored to focus on androgyny and its connection to jewellery.

My jewellery collection grew as a result of the theoretical aspect. The accumulation and processing of information taught me to distinguish the aroma of words in the literature of jewellery. In my understanding, jewellery is the essence created by the “recipe.”


In a harmonious way, Darja is both a poet and a logician; collaborating with her meant surfing on both of these levels at the same time - both arbitrarily and intellectually.
These two jewellery collections have developed with an enormous inner conviction. The choice of materials works perfectly with the theme, and communicates Darja's secret love towards beauty and clear silhouettes. The immaculately controlled shapes contain a shadow of the future, while the shapes cut by machines (programmed cutters and 3D printers) are only perfect because of the presence of an individual. Perfectly polished obsidians keep the axis of the jewellery in line. The volume of the workload is impressive, yet not exhaustively so. I am really astounded at how much eroticism is found in this androgynous work. The tactility of shapes, strained swells, and bodily pulses - this is the common area of the body and mind. / Tanel Veenre, professor Estonian Academy of Arts, June 2015

For Darja, androgyny seems to come from a place of instinct, natural behaviour and aesthetic attribute. /.../ In her jewelry, Darja Popolitova reflects on androgyny (combining masculine and feminine characteristics) when engaging in labour-intensive techniques to craft specific materials to her desired artificial shape. She calls on new technologies such as 3d printing that curiously mimic the natural qualities of the materials previously introduced. With this unorthodox marriage she creates objects that mirror themselves in a pool deeper than Narcissus’ own. In fact, androgyny can also be seen as a process of transition between genders. To let it linger is to get stuck in the middle, suppressing development of each individual pole. /.../ With each passing generation, gender blending grows ever more common. But perhaps we are living before the tipping point. With unstable shifts in social practices towards gender roles and the speedy technological development of body plasticity still evolving, it is thrilling to think that Pandora’s Box is yet to be open. / Edgar Mosa, Master Thesis opponent, June 2015

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