KELLY NACHT

For the past 2 years I have been researching, sketching, designing and making jewellery pieces which have been inspired by the hand-made Islamic geometric patterns. These pieces represent a deceptive frailty in a chaotic order, with the intention of making the spectator intrigued and more observant of the details in the piece and hopefully give him or her a moment of peace.

Producing these pieces by hand is my way of honouring all of the craftsmen & women that have been forgotten or who are still fighting to be remembered. To not depend of technology is not as easy as it seems, we have become accustomed to it, that its absence can be a little bit scary. But to choose to ignore it for a while was my way of reconnecting to all of the steps in the techniques and my surrounding. Many things would have been lost if technology had been brought into the picture, but I am still very glad to say that it has all been hand-made.

With these pieces I wish to convey beauty and femininity. It is not an obvious beauty but when it receives the attention it deserves, you will start to understand what kind of beauty is spoken of here.

However hard or high a goal might be,

However far the consummation seems

To which your spirit ardently aspires,

If artistry and intellect are joined

With gentle, sacred, pious patience – then

A worthy soul achieves his every wish,

And reaps the fruits of his desired intent,

Grown rich in virtues, joyful and content.

To realize some excellent design

Or bring some noble enterprise to term,

Let no man stint intelligence and art

But rack himself with effort and expense;

For you must suffer if you hope to gain

That goal whose value few can comprehend.

To win the fame and fortune that our world

Alone seems to esteem: fly up by work.

(Giovanni Battista Nazari, Three dreams on the Transmutation of metals, Brescia 1599)