Sabina Dragusanu
Jeweller
Published: 18.06.2021
Sabina Drăguşanu
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sabina-dragusanu.com
Born in Piatra Neamt, Romania, Sabina Dragusanu started making jewellery when she was only 12 years old, and what started as a hobby, soon became a passion. She moved to London in 2014 to study jewellery, and graduated from Central Saint Martins, UAL, in 2017 with a BA Hons) in Jewellery Design. Her graduate collection ‘Contemporary Embroidery’ was awarded ‘Best Design’ by Theo Fennell and was selected to take part in the ‘Marzee International Graduate Show 2017’. Sabina’s craftsmanship turns away from conventional jewellery materials. Highly passionate about nature, her work shows the different ways in which she tries to express that.
Being an avid nature lover, my biggest nightmare is currently a reality: pollution, environmental emergency, bush fires. There are different types of pollution and different degrees to what we can control, but I believe that we can do more than we think. I am making changes in my lifestyle every day and hope that every little thing builds up to something bigger. I express that in my works and I try to encourage others to take more action as well. Lately, I’ve been exploring the different ways of upcycling plastic; there is so much of it that goes into the ‘recycling’ bin and ends up being sent to a landfill somewhere in Asia. I believe that we need to use more of what we have and create less of what we don’t have.
(In)organic Growth (collection, 2021)
This collection aims to show the beauty of irregularities. Deeply inspired by the organic ways in which nature takes shape, I began without any prior planning or templates. I’ve let my instincts take complete control over the creation process, which resulted in a collection of unique, organic shapes that can adorn the human body. As plastic takes over nature more every day, I believe that we take for granted the natural surroundings and tend to overlook the threat of pollution. My hope is that, through my work, I can show the absolute significance that the natural environment has and help encourage others to do more in order to improve the state that it is currently in.
WOULD YOU LIKE A BAG? (collection, 2020)
Plastic bags - they are everywhere. We’re used to seeing them around, to using them, they are something common to our everyday lives. A cheap object that is useful for a certain amount of time, that can be easily discarded - they’re nothing precious. We’re also used to seeing them flying around, getting carried away by the wind, overflowing from our bins, laying around on the ground - nothing out of the ordinary. They’re someone else's problem to solve, to discard of, to recycle. Someone else has to deal with them, not us. Or is it?
The main source of debris pollution in the ocean, the bags’ toxic elements are harmful to marine wildlife. They are taking over our planet, and only we can change that. Making the classic plastic bags obsolete is in everyone’s hands. They are choking wild animals, they fill their stomachs, they even fill ours! If we keep turning a blind eye to the problem, soon it will be too late.
What will the environment look like in the near future?
NEIGHBOURHOOD LINKS (collection, 2020)
Neighbourhood Links is a material based collection, continuing on the theme of plastic upcycling (which I have been using in my latest collections).
When lockdown came along, coincidentally, it was also the time when I ran out of plastic bags! Having stopped buying them, the stash I had gathered had finished, so with the help of my local community website, I started to ask my neighbours. I was pleasantly surprised to see people responding so positively to my request of taking away their ‘bag of bags’ (that I think we are all familiar with).
Just before lockdown, around January, I started to take an interest in knitting, and that gave me the idea of turning plastic bags into yarn. While I am aware that it is not a revolutionary idea and that it has been done before, my take on it is original and goes further than cutting strips and making shopping bags or pouches.
The concept of crocheting the shapes into links plays with the idea of people coming together and helping each other through hard times. Seeing my community in the South West of London being mindful of others and trying to lend a hand where they could, has left me quite impressed. Even helping me with my request for collecting plastic bags, shows people’s willingness to be there for others when they can.
(In)organic Growth (collection, 2021)
This collection aims to show the beauty of irregularities. Deeply inspired by the organic ways in which nature takes shape, I began without any prior planning or templates. I’ve let my instincts take complete control over the creation process, which resulted in a collection of unique, organic shapes that can adorn the human body. As plastic takes over nature more every day, I believe that we take for granted the natural surroundings and tend to overlook the threat of pollution. My hope is that, through my work, I can show the absolute significance that the natural environment has and help encourage others to do more in order to improve the state that it is currently in.
WOULD YOU LIKE A BAG? (collection, 2020)
Plastic bags - they are everywhere. We’re used to seeing them around, to using them, they are something common to our everyday lives. A cheap object that is useful for a certain amount of time, that can be easily discarded - they’re nothing precious. We’re also used to seeing them flying around, getting carried away by the wind, overflowing from our bins, laying around on the ground - nothing out of the ordinary. They’re someone else's problem to solve, to discard of, to recycle. Someone else has to deal with them, not us. Or is it?
The main source of debris pollution in the ocean, the bags’ toxic elements are harmful to marine wildlife. They are taking over our planet, and only we can change that. Making the classic plastic bags obsolete is in everyone’s hands. They are choking wild animals, they fill their stomachs, they even fill ours! If we keep turning a blind eye to the problem, soon it will be too late.
What will the environment look like in the near future?
NEIGHBOURHOOD LINKS (collection, 2020)
Neighbourhood Links is a material based collection, continuing on the theme of plastic upcycling (which I have been using in my latest collections).
When lockdown came along, coincidentally, it was also the time when I ran out of plastic bags! Having stopped buying them, the stash I had gathered had finished, so with the help of my local community website, I started to ask my neighbours. I was pleasantly surprised to see people responding so positively to my request of taking away their ‘bag of bags’ (that I think we are all familiar with).
Just before lockdown, around January, I started to take an interest in knitting, and that gave me the idea of turning plastic bags into yarn. While I am aware that it is not a revolutionary idea and that it has been done before, my take on it is original and goes further than cutting strips and making shopping bags or pouches.
The concept of crocheting the shapes into links plays with the idea of people coming together and helping each other through hard times. Seeing my community in the South West of London being mindful of others and trying to lend a hand where they could, has left me quite impressed. Even helping me with my request for collecting plastic bags, shows people’s willingness to be there for others when they can.
CV 
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Sabina Drăguşanu
- Mail:
- hellosabina-dragusanu.com
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