Akis Goumas
Jeweller
Published: 02.05.2022
gmail.comBio
Akis Goumas is a Greek artist with an extensive experience in the jewellery field. The artist is a regular presence in international exhibitions and fairs, such as JOYA, and his work can be found in several publications. Besides this Akis is interested on natural structures and in the study of prehistoric findings from the Aegean region, Greece.Statement
…Layers lie upon layers of time and history, half hidden and half revealed. Like a myth’s internal structure of layers, folding and winding in on themselves, exploring some parts while keeping others in the shadow…The process of designing a piece of jewelry or an object is a journey in time. I follow a path through emotions, concepts and images. It is an ensemble of elements, powered by memories, experiences and myths. My work is a medium, through which I aim to communicate with other people. I enjoy observing natural structures and studying prehistoric findings from the Aegean region with a group of archaeologists.
An elaborately braided bird nest, a delicate embroidered by vasculars flower capsule, the growth lines on a mollusk shell, the nettings formed by capillary vessels inside the body, are all parts of a world in which I like to lose myself in. I admire the resourcefulness and the intelligence of the anonymous prehistoric metal workers, who with only a few tools created masterpieces. They teach me how to decode ancient tool traces and techniques. The small findings and jewelry fragments that I study these last years have deeply influenced, my approach to jewellery creation. The pieces that I make are three-dimensional compositions-objects designed to be worn.
Techniques, materials, colors and textures are the language through which I express myself during these journeys of creating.
A project based on a rare Mycenaean technique:
During the last 3 years, I am focused on a project which is based on some rare findings from Mycenaean Greece (16th -15th century BC), decorated with an unknown goldsmithing technique. The technique is described and named by the excavator professor Tsountas as “gold embroidery (1889) and was used to decorate bronze weapons with minute gold particles Thousands of these particles were made out of striped gold wires (dimensions 1.5-2 mm long and 0.2-0.3 thick )covered the surfaces of hilts of daggers or swords. The technique is very difficult to be detected with the naked eye and much more difficult to be understood the way it was made.
In order to feel the Mycenaean craftsman, the last two years I have launched an experimental project. During this period, I try to work on a very small scale with tiny pieces of wire, similar to the original and cover surfaces in my personal way. My aim is not to copy his work but to feel what is happening when you work on a very small scale. I have learned that it is an inner journey which needs a lot of concentration and time. After a period of practice, I realized that I didn’t care because of the small size and technical difficulties. The information we( archaeologists and me) gained from this project helps us to minimize the distance between us and the old master and understand why some craftsmen are addicted to the small scale of work.It is interesting to know that, there are not more than ten artefacts found during a period of almost two centuries
Work Untitled 1,2 and 3 (2020)are experimental fragments which will be assembled to jewels.
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