I am More and More Secure in Trusting My Own Voice. Interview with Elin Flognman by Klimt02

Tell us about your background. What were your first influences to be creative and become an artist and what has drawn you to contemporary jewellery?
Coming from a family of academics there was really no alternative to studies at the university. I attended lots of exciting classes but I could never find the one thing that really caught my interest. I took a break from studies to work and think and then I joined an evening class in silversmithing. I was hooked. The evening class developed into day school and there I heard there was something called Art Jewellery at the university. I applied and got in the second time around. Finally, I found a way of expressing the knowledge and experience that is me in an art field that requires technical skill as well as sensitivity and touch. I just love when I get that gut feeling and a smile comes to my face when I am working on something in the studio. That is pure magic.
 

How important is networking for you in your professional practice and what are your preferred tools for this?
Working in the studio can be lonely. Getting in touch with colleagues that are sometimes also friends and communicate with different actors in the field is not just important for business but also a way to stay sane. We are in this together and need to show each other we care. 
 

What are your general thoughts on the contemporary jewellery world, (education, market, development...), where do you see chances and where are dead ends?
I think the jewellery world is doing fine. Some wonderful experiments are going on with digital techniques and that is exciting. There is also of course then a counter-movement towards the traditional. There is an awareness of materials and environmental impact and artists raising other political issues and questions regarding bodies and norms. Questions for which jewellery is an exceptionally good spokesperson. Just like the world is turbulent in many ways so is contemporary jewellery. I am hoping to see a wider representation of makers and an even more chaotic field with lots of stray branches and wild ideas. Diversity is beautiful.
 

How has your work changed over the past few years and what are you excited about these days?
I feel like my work is an ongoing investigation of everyday and human conditions. I am not afraid of change and I am more and more secure in trusting my own voice. Maybe a privilege that comes with age? At the moment I am excited about giants and the fact that we, in the north anyway, really believed that they were really just a bit more than a hundred years ago. I am also excited about wool and the possibilities of this material. Who knows what will come out of this?