Working in my studio is a solitary affair. Networking is necessary, but it's an effort to organize it. Margo Nelissen interviewed 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?
As a teenager, I was always making things: cushions, dolls, clothes, and jewels for the dolls, painting, knitting sweaters, etc. When I received the book ‘Inventive jewelry-making’ by Ramona Solberg (back in the 70s), I discovered that jewelry-making could be something totally different from what I had seen in the local jewelry stores. Materials like bone, tin cans, wood, and even trash could be transformed into jewelry. I was stunned. That was what I wanted to do too. So, I went to art school to follow the jewelry design program. After finishing art school, I traveled through Africa to study jewelry wearing and collect items for myself. This was so inspiring that I wanted to know more about these beautiful ways of adornment, so I studied Cultural Anthropology and graduated from West African amulets.

My first works are inspired remotely by African ways of adornment and the concept of amulets. I worked in iron and copper and natural finds. Technically, I explored all the different possibilities of using metal wire in the designs. Gradually, my visual language shifted. I have been designing and making jewelry for over 30 years, and now, I see my work develop like a tree's branches. Exploring new and different techniques leads to new visual languages.

The similarities in all the pieces (also the bigger ones) is the great degree of refinement and my love for structures and textures.


How important is networking for you in your professional practice, and what are your preferred tools for this?
Working in my studio is a solitary affair. Networking is necessary, but it's an effort to organize it. Exhibitions are important for showing my work and for making contact with my clients. And to meet colleagues and see what’s going on. When it is not possible to go in person, Klimt02, Instagram and Facebook are good alternatives to keep me posted on what is happening.


Thinking about your career, what role do technology and the digital play in your in your artistic development and communication?
About the future: I am a maker. I love the feeling of the material and the grip of the tools in my hands. The process of putting together a piece and finishing it. So, for me, the newest developments in design and making with AI are not very attractive. But I love what some designers can do with it. It is a good thing that everybody follows his or her own path in designing and making. It makes our world colorful and diverse.