I firmly believe that as artists and gallery owners, it is our responsibility to educate and guide those who are drawn to this niche market. Stephania Curreli 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?
I come from the world of Fashion; I have worked in that sector for almost 30 years of my life, which has shaped and influenced me. Designing collections specifically in knitwear has shaped me to build with materials, in combining colors, in the study of graphics and prints. If you choose a fabric or more than one to design a dress or trousers, the fabric already exists, so you play with cuts, volumes, embroidery in the knit you build from scratch: you have yarns to mix with which to create everything, a bit like in jewelry and artifacts where you start from a clay or a metal plate and start to make it a 3D object. My background has certainly helped me in design, even if today, the working method I prefer is guided by the process. I quickly sketch an idea as a reminder, but often, during the process, the work takes other more interesting directions. As a self-taught contemporary jeweler, I see it as a form of freedom of expression, free from commercial sales schemes, a different way to launch messages, often experimenting with recycled materials to give more life than before.


How important is networking for you in your professional practice, and what are your preferred tools for this?
A little bit of all of us unconsciously network to recommend this rather than that; word of mouth is a powerful way to make yourself known. Today, we use social media above all for this, and I personally use Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to work on speaking. Being present and working on social media is still a job in itself that takes away time and energy and more and more artists rely for this on specialized communication studios that help to target and position themselves.


What are your general thoughts on the contemporary jewelry world (education, market, development)? Where do you see chances, and where are the dead ends?
I have been in the jewelry business for a few years. I see contemporary jewelry as a growing market niche because I feel that there is a desire and there is more and more attention towards handmade, unique, authentic pieces in stark contrast to the globalized market that has flattened tastes, trends, and quality. I firmly believe that it is our task as artists and gallery owners who already do it, to educate and guide more and more people to this slice of the market that is attracted but needs to be guided, taken a little by the hand... The customer loves to wear a unique piece, which are often real wearable art forms and not relegating them only to special occasions but making them suitable for everyday life is an intriguing challenge and satisfaction. 


Thinking about your career, what role do technology and the digital play in your in your artistic development and communication?
As a neophyte and self-taught, I am still immersed in the study of traditional techniques and processes, experimenting with the material but without the use of 3D. What I love about this work is precisely the personal and tactile contact with the material. I recognize 3D as a big step forward both in series ceramics and in jewelry design, but for now, I am not attracted to it, but I do not exclude it in the future. I always have a careful eye on the new, on new materials, on digital then AI is overturning many things, in the course of a few years even communication has become much faster and simpler even simultaneously in diametely opposite places on the globe.


How has your work changed over the past few years, and what are you excited about these days?
I started only two years ago. I can say that I started this journey focused on ceramics, but then it's as if many other windows have opened up for me to look inside and the desire to delve into other things as well. I like to mix, cut, reunite, fuse, without constraints with an eclectic but harmonious code. Every time I experiment with new materials or immerse myself in new processes me, I feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland because I have fun and play first and foremost. Sometimes there are failures, but they are part of the process, especially in ceramics, in the glazes that I prepare personally like a little alchemist chemist... these days, I'm taking up a material that I've snubbed in recent years, polymers, I have a couple of ideas that I'd like to experiment with combined with other materials, and we'll see where the process will take me.