Interview with Aiyu Zhu

Do you think that jewelry is being standardized? What is there of local and universal in your artistic work 
I would consider that art jewelry is quite individual as it’s a bridge of communication among creators, wearers and viewers. Each of them has their own reading experiences of an artistic piece about memory, expectation and transforming of their interior world that stimulated by the exterior one, and, as there are now so many materials, techniques, crafts in making jewelry, also how to show a piece of jewelry, that relates sometimes to the other art forms like photography, 3D technology, furthermore, there are more conceptions in jewelry relating to, for example, medical science, human body, human behaviors, environment, interaction and more, so I think, jewelry would be less standardized as it has been exploring and being expanded. 

My works has been devoting to my path of discovering, developing, and growing. I tried to explore, to understand myself and the world outside through my creating…actually, apparently in my mind, I have not so many limitations about what is local, what is universal, I think “local” means for me is elements, cultures, and each “ local” could be “universal” when I try to generate ideas, therefore, I think, it is a combination. The most important thing for me is.. we are sharing it.

What do you expect when exposing your work to the public (for example with an exhibition)? 
I contribute myself to the interpretation of emotions and little moments. I am usually glad if they find their own memories when viewing my pieces. 

Are other areas besides the jewelry, present in your work? 
Yes, I was taking my master study in the department of Glass and Jewelry Art in China Academy of Art with Prof. Li Wen and Prof. Zhang Lan, so, in my research, I started from materials and crafts.. I worked with glass, lacquer and metal.

The last work, book, film, that has moved me was...
<> by Jean-Marc Vallee, It helps me to understand different kinds of relationships around us and being developed into my works.

A place, space, country whose creativity surprises me...
That’s really a lot…I care about the details of creativity. so I enjoy myself when I was presented in front of my familiar and unfamiliar things. Those that surprised me is from my first study trip to Europe, countries like Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Czech republic, places and spaces like museum, architecture, mountain, lake, landscape, etc.

is there any designer, jeweler, artist, you appreciate a lot?
Yes, Mary Lee Hu, Douglas Harling, Norman Cherry, Giampaolo Babetto, Otto Kunzli, Peter Skubic, Gerd Rothmann, Ted Noten, Stefano Marchetti, they are great jewellers, and surely they are many more..

What piece or work has given you the most satisfaction?
Recently I have been working with glass jewelry as wearable products pieces, each of the pieces remind me of a story, a period of sensation and some memories of my past trips to Europe.