My creative process is low-tech, it is traditional and ancient, each piece is crafted of porcelain by hand. Interview with Stephanie Dubsky 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?
I was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. Growing up in a city with so much history and cultural heritage awoke a sense of aesthetics in me and left its mark. I fell in love with art and architecture, always visiting museums and constantly making and creating art myself, which led me to study product design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.
In 1999 I moved to New York to accept a job at the Guggenheim Museum and later at the Neue Galerie, a museum of German and Austrian art and design. However, it was my persisting love for creating objects that made me strike out on my own and eventually led me to make jewelry.


How important is networking for you in your professional practice and what are your preferred tools for this?
I was introduced to the New York jewelry community through the Mad About Jewelry event at the Museum of Arts and Design, the New York City Jewelry Week, and The Jewelry Library, where I met many wonderful designers, curators and collectors from around the world. Be it in person or connecting through social media I have found the jewelry community extremely welcoming and supportive.


What are your general thoughts on the contemporary jewellery world, (education, market, development...), where do you see chances and where are dead ends?
Contemporary jewelry in all its facets is a language of expression and identity of the individual. We use jewelry to adorn and empower ourselves, to play and have fun, and sometimes to make social and political statements. There is no better way, and there are no limits to how jewelry can be used as a tool for personal and cultural expression and to communicate who we are as a society.


Thinking about your career, what role do technology and the digital play in your artistic development & communication?
My creative process is low-tech, it is traditional and ancient, each piece is crafted of porcelain by hand. But technology and social media as a way of communication have become essential. It is a means to discover, connect, stay in touch and show my work on a global scale.


How has your work changed over the past few years and what are you excited about these days?
The world of contemporary jewelry and making jewelry is fairly new to me. Having discovered this passion relatively late, I feel like I have a lot to learn and some catching up to do. I am finally more experienced and confident in manipulating porcelain and controlling the outcome, which allows me to be more daring in my craft and artistry. Recently I have started to combine metalworking techniques with the craft of porcelain, which I find very exciting. Mostly though I am just enjoying working with my hands and am passionately curious to discover and learn more about the world of jewelry.