Paper bevelled slate by Susanne Holzinger

Bracelet

I have always loved to work with paper. Paper is the most ordinary and multifunctional material of our times and I asked myself: can paper be jewellery?

Jewellery for me is sculptural art within the limits of wearability, volume and stability. By creating solid wood-like blocks of layered paper I designed a material that is suitable to fulfil these criteria. I want to stimulate the sense of touch as well as the eye. You can only suggest an aesthetic pleasure with the eye, but touch offers physical experience of the tactility of the pieces. Their surface is warm, dry and smooth and the organic shapes have a tactile sensual quality. When carving these paper blocks I draw the layered lines of coloured grain into organic forms. With every cut I control the lines in a desired direction. I refer to carving these paper blocks as drawing with the knife. During the carving process I feel the form with my fingertips and developed my sensitivity for the form in dialogue with exploring the material, which allows me to intuitively expose its essential qualities. My design process is based on my tactile sense of aesthetics and my physical perceptions. In this way, every piece is unique and can not ever be exactly duplicated.