Margarete Lux. Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Peter Behrens School of Arts, New Craft Object Design. New Talents Award Nominee 2025

Name of graduation student: Margarete Lux.
Name of guiding teachers/lecturers: Jantje Fleischhut.

Nominated by Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Peter Behrens School of Arts, New Craft Object Design


Margarete Lux develops Netallique in her bachelor's thesis. Experimental fusions is a collection of enamelled, vessels, objects, and jewellery. She adapts the perfection of the enamelling technique to apply it to a combination of materials previously unknown in the jewellery field.

By using industrial stainless steel filter mesh, she makes a conscious shift away from the conventional use of solid metal substrates in enamelling. Margarete Lux employs an interdisciplinary approach, experimentally exploring a traditional technique and using design methods to transform the technique of enamelling into a contemporary position.

Light, transparency, and colour are central parameters of her investigation. Through the enamelling process and clear treatment, the technical-industrial filter fabric becomes a poetic object. The structure of the filter fabric and the quality of the grid as a membrane allow her to create work that communicates lightness, transparency and permeability, yet remains stable in use.

The precisely controlled deformation of the flat filter fabric not only defines the design language of the unfolding but also provides stability to the pieces. Through the deliberate folding, stretching and fixing of flexible surfaces, Margarete Lux creates delicate forms whose physical presence can be rediscovered repeatedly with light. The project moves between the boundaries of material research and creative experimentation.

The vessels make a spectacular appearance thanks to the material treatment and skilful use of transparent colours. They form the centrepiece of the collection, to which the jewellery and objects refer in their basic forms. The shapes of the jewellery refer to the elements of the vessels: the base and the unfolding. With minimal silver constructions, the dynamic interplay between light and surface is transformed into wearable jewelry.

Margarete Lux uses the spectrum of blue, green and yellow, complemented by the selective use of red. The luminosity and transparency of her lead-free color selection are revealed through reflection. Each of these colors carries its own visual language, historical, emotional and creative. With great perseverance and patience, curiosity for experimentation and, ultimately, technical perfection, Margarete Lux shows us the artistic and creative potential of a fusion of craftsmanship and industrial materials.
/ Jantje Fleischhut.


Summary of the thesis:
Netallique. Experimental. Fusion examines the artistic and technical exploration of enamel as a material in contemporary jewellery and objects. The focus is on the experimental use of transparent enamel on stainless steel filter mesh, as well as the expansion of classic enamelling techniques to include new design and material approaches.

The research covers historical and technical aspects of enamelling, with a particular focus on the transformation of the material in the light. Only lead-free enamel paints from traceable production and industrial materials such as stainless steel mesh were used, as a conscious decision for a sustainable and contemporary design language.
Light, perception, transparency, reflection and colour are the central parameters of this work. The result is jewellery and vessel objects.

The project lies at the intersection of material research and creative experimentation. There are currently no reliable references in the literature on the connection between jewellery enamel and stainless steel mesh. My approach was therefore a combination of experimental practice in the studio and continuous research. The work process is characterised by tests, trial and error, documentation and technical conclusions, with the aim of developing design-relevant parameters for stable and aesthetically convincing processing. As the stainless steel mesh and enamel have different surface tensions, the mesh was manipulated with a tool from the textile processing industry before the enamelling process. The fabric allows work to be done without counteremail.

Using stainless steel mesh as a carrier material marks a conscious break with conventional solid metal bases. This structure allows for lightness, transparency and permeability, properties that are particularly appealing in the jewellery sector. I am interested in the metaphorical quality of the grid: as a membrane, as a carrier of colour, as a filter between inside and outside. Through the enamelling process, a traditional handicraft technique, the technical-industrial filter mesh is transformed into a poetic object. Light not only passes through it, but is also shaped by the material.

In my work, colour does not appear as a static material feature, but as the result of a dynamic interplay between light and surface. Colours arise because materials absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others; these reflected waves activate the receptors in the eye and are processed in the brain as colourful impressions. In my choice of colours, I initially focus on the spectrum of blue, green and yellow, complemented by the occasional use of red. Each of these colours has its own visual language, with historical, emotional and design connotations. The transparent enamel colours only reveal their full potential in conjunction with the oxidation of the stainless steel mesh: Without light, they appear dark; when light passes through the mesh, coloured shadows are created.

Here, enamelling is understood not only as a craft process, but also as a creative medium that makes surfaces, bodies and spaces permeable, light-reflecting and meaningful.

The result of this work are vessel objects in which the enamel not only functions as a coloured layer, but also as a stabiliser and shaper. In addition, jewellery and objects were created that are formally derived from the idea of vessels. They are minimalist, but spatial, light-related and designed to be worn close to the body. Depending on the incidence of light, they cast a coloured shadow on the wearer or their surroundings.


Contact:
Mail:margaretelux1988@gmail.com
Instagram: @marga_lux


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