Interview with Felieke van der Leest

Do you think that jewelry is being standardized ?
No, on the contrary. I see so much different types of expression and all kinds of different materials and techniques in modern jewelry I cannot see any standardization. Interestingly I met on Facebook many new colleagues from Latin America and some more traditional jewelers from India and Pakistan. Very exciting, it makes the world smaller and bigger at the same time. 

What is there of local and universal in your artistic work? 
I think my work is very much rooted in West European /Northern American tradition. 

What do you expect when exposing your work to the public (for example with an exhibition)? 
Best is not to expect too much, I just hope that people get excited/fascinated/surprised/happy by seeing my work. 

Are other areas besides the jewelry, present in your work? 
I see my work more like wearable little sculptures than jewelry. When I work with colors I feel like a painter, when I work with metal I feel like a constructor, and when I work with plastic toy animals I feel like a child. 

The last work, book, film, that has moved me was... 
I have read some books and seen some movies lately, but I cannot remember one that really moved me. 

A place, space, country whose creativity surprises me... 
Also sorry for having no interesting answer to this question, I have been cocooning the last few years and have no idea what to answer. Before 2008 I lived in an small rental apartment in the center of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, I was a workaholic and travelled a lot. Now my life has changed a bit, I am living together with my man and our little child in a small town in the countryside of Norway. We bought a wonderful house with a garden nearby a forest and a fjord and are surrounded by mountains. It is for the first time I have a proper atelier to work in too ! 

Is there any designer, jeweller, artist, you appreciate a lot? 
Charlotte Dumas is a photographer who makes the most amazing portraits of animals, specially about horses. And Wim van Egmond, he is also a photographer, and specialized in the microscopically life of plants and animals. He is very good in what he is doing and has amazing pictures of water flies.
I admire my colleagues Ruudt Peters and Ted Noten, both because of their artistic work and passion for modern jewelry in all their manifestations. And I love the works of e.g. Lisa Walker, Alexander Blank, Hanna Hedman, Anna Talbot, Denise Julia Reytan, Lucy Sarneel, Natalya Pinchuk and Sari Liimatta. 

What piece or work has given you the most satisfaction? 
All my pieces give me a lot of satisfaction, while working on them and when they are finished. To create something completely new is amazing, I feel very fortunate to be able to do that. But to mention one I would choose “Incognitos Anonymous” from 2011. Making those little silver buckets with faces inspired by Halloween pumpkins was a lot of fun. Especially when after some struggling I finally found the perfect name for them.