Maria Hees
Jeweller
/
MunichJewelleryWeek2019
Published: 05.05.2023
hetnet.nlBio
Maria Hees is not an industrial designer, not a free artist, not a craftswoman in the tradition of her craft, not an ambitious businessperson. Maria Hees regularly exhibits in shows at home and abroad. Her work has been included in the collections of various museums: including Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Museum Arnhem, Coda Museum in Apeldoorn, Design Museum in Den Bosch, Kunstmuseum in The Hague, Museum für Kunsthandwerk in Frankfurt, Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Museum of Fine Arts Montreal, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Arts and Design New York, Metropolitan Museum New York, Cooper Hewitt Museum New York and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.Statement
Maria Hees is committed to developing her own ideas about the nature of jewellery, objects and bags; she examines the applicability of materials, often applying materials in novel ways. She does acknowledge any of the restrictions so often imposed on the manufacture of products by tradition or other standards; on the contrary, she fights them in an attempt to create new solutions. She shapes her own freedom and, in doing so, the freedom of those who use her objects. She can do this by working on a small scale, making almost everything herself, and doing only what she thinks is worthwhile. It is in her work that her true being manifests itself...I am always looking for new techniques and materials, both for my jewellery and for my bags and objects. For example, for my porcelain jewellery, I use a new material that was developed together with the EKWC (European Ceramic Work Centre): porcelain that foams in the oven. The result is always a surprise.
Sometimes I work with a local craftsman, such as with the iron jewellery, which I made together with a blacksmith in Mali, Africa. Another special project was the glass jewellery, which I made together with a master glassblower from the Czech Republic.
I use different materials for my bags, such as fish leather from the Nile perch of Lake Victoria, naturally tanned leather and neoprene. My last two series are leather bags that combine with ceramic and porcelain vases: the bag looks like a vase, and the vase looks like a bag.
I am currently developing techniques to work with porcelain and stoneware in two colours, similar to the Japanese Nerikomi method. I try to apply this technique in my own freeway so that there is always a surprise at the end. I try to make these plates, wall pieces and brooches as smooth and thin as possible to a thickness of 1 mm. This makes the work appear very fragile, but due to the high firing temperatures, it is actually very strong.
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