Control growth and maturity, and watch your thoughts being born. Interview with Nannan Zhang 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?
My previous major was landscape design. Later, because of coincidence or fate, I entered a new field and started a new learning experience. But what is better is that art is interlinked, including the continuous accumulation of aesthetics in my previous study, which also lays a good foundation for my future way. I entered the metal craft workshop in 2016 and began to study metal crafts systematically. After a solid foundation in basic technology, I began to learn some traditional crafts, such as filigree, enamel, and carving technologies. I gradually found that I like handicrafts because it is a free medium that can express my thoughts and feelings. Later, I went to Paris to accomplish the enamel and Lacquer lessons. I also began to make friends in this field, especially Professor Kezhen Wang, who made me understand what contemporary jewellery is and brought me into this world. I love creating things, and I want to express my thoughts through metal and craft skills, which is a direction I have been going.


How important is networking for you in your professional practice, and what are your preferred tools for this?
Networking is important for an artist. As early as more than 100 years ago, artists had their own circle, where they could communicate, collide, learn from each other, and produce sparks to promote themselves and even the progress of the entire artistic civilization. The same is true for contemporary jewellery. I have met many seniors after doing this work. They have made great achievements in their professional field. They have rich ideas and are willing to communicate with the younger generation. I have learned a lot from them and broadened my horizons.


What are your general thoughts on the contemporary jewellery world (education, market, development...)? Where do you see chances, and where are dead ends?
Contemporary jewellery belongs to the artistic creation category, making it difficult to define what is right and what is wrong. Because there are many different developments in artistic creation, the personal development orientation of artists is also different. Some have a pure original intention of creation, and some have a business sense and will promote or recommend themselves to make their works have a better market and gain more popularity. Me, I am a college teacher, and I have a college as an endorsement. There are also many activities and good exhibitions between Chinese art colleges. This makes my creation motives purer. I can create something I want to express without considering the market issues. But I think a platform like Klimt02 is very good. It can help many more artists who make a living by creating and making their works attract the attention of the whole world. The whole contemporary jewellery market needs the efforts of more people to expand its influence further and will have a better future.
 

Thinking about your career, what role do technology and the digital play in your artistic development & communication?
The impact of technology and digitalization on the world is obvious, and it also plays an accelerating role in contemporary jewellery to some extent. I also pay attention to some virtual jewellery projects, but I prefer the irreplaceable nature of handicrafts. All of my works are presented by using traditional crafts or techniques. The hands are warm. During the production process, you can watch the work grow from scratch, control its growth and maturity, and watch your thoughts being born. I enjoy the process even more.


How has your work changed over the past few years?
At present, I am still in a very exciting experimental stage. I have tried the combination of metal and jade carving and just started to try metal forging. Now I am like an energetic primary school student, and I treat my work with sufficient enthusiasm. I do not want to be limited by a specific technology or material. Still, maybe I will do some work with stronger personal recognition after finding the most suitable artistic language.