​I saw Jorge Manilla's work for the first time in 2013, at Joya Barcelona where he had a solo exhibition titled "Contemporary Savagery". It was about violence, troubled objects, and the human soul. I was intrigued; It seemed like he was materializing feelings through his jewelry, the exhibition was truly an experience. So I have closely followed his work over the past several years and I was so happy to have the chance to meet him in Athens, Greece and chat about so much more than jewelry. He opened up about his life's challenges, his work and philosophy of life in this inspiring interview.
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Για να διαβάσετε την συνέντευξη του Jorge Manilla στα Ελληνικά, πατήστεεδώ.

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​1. Could you tell us a little about yourself? Who you are and what you do?
I am Jorge Manilla, I was born and raised in Mexico City and was living there until 14 years ago, when I decided to move to Europe.
Who am I? I think that I have to define myself every day and answer this question “who am I?”  This happens, not only because I am living constantly in a mix of cultural influences but also because my artistic activities are very diverse.
I first graduated as a goldsmith and a silversmith in Mexico City, after that I got a Bachelor degree in sculpture. Then I took the decision to go back to the Jewelry field once again, but this time with a more open, artistic approach. Four years later I got my master degree.
I have been working for many years towards building and expanding my education and I am still doing so. Currently, I am finishing my PhD Research at the Royal Academy of fine Arts in Antwerp Belgium.
All these years I keep reflecting on my professional practice. I can definitely say that I live in a constant artistic quest and that I try to find the balance between thinking and making. For me, it is very important to analyze the process and always question my work before deciding to share it with the public.
 
2. How did you start making jewelry? Why do you do jewelry and not sculpture for example?
Making jewelry was not included in my plans initially. I even tried to deny the possibility of becoming a jeweler. Since I come from a family of goldsmiths, I didn’t want to follow this path but for some reason life takes you to unexpected places in unexpected ways. I now think that I was in the right place at the right moment… During the period that I was trying to become a sculptor and was searching for the right school I visited a campus and… got hooked with the jewelry department. This felt like many of my life’s past pieces came back to present. Without having any doubts I decided to start my studies there. 

​3. You are a Mexican artist who lives and works in Belgium. Could you tell us about the ways these two countries have influenced you?
Well, I live in a kind of duality. I can mention a very important aspect in how Europe (and living in Ghent) has shaped me to be to the person that I am today.
As you know, I grew up in Mexico City, this place has a population of more than 20 million inhabitants, and it is huge, full of life, chaotic, something always happens there. That means that I had to be very disciplined if I truly wanted to create.  And this was often difficult; I just wanted to be part of the life outside. At that time I was young and it took a lot of hard effort, trying to find the balance between fun and work.
And then you realize that this can become your big enemy… now I can say I did it, but it was difficult.
The biggest contribution of Belgium in my work was the way of life, the tranquility, the structure, the schedules, and of course the dimension of the city. I come from a place with millions of people and I went to live in a city with a population of 250,000 inhabitants.  It was a shock for me but on the same time I discovered a new way of life, where I was much closer to myself and I needed this in order to be more productive.
​
​4. Do you miss your home country? Do you consider going back?
I love my home country, the traditions, the heritage, but sometimes we need to take distance from places, people, things, and work in this aspect of “letting go”. But what actually happens when taking distance is that you don’t let go. You only learn to appreciate so much more the “who” that you are and the “what” that you have.
Of course I miss my home country every day and maybe one day, who knows, I will be back. But now it is too early to think about that. I still have a lot to discover before I decide to go back to Mexico.

​5. Could you talk about the ideas or messages conveyed by your work?
Some of the themes I work with are: Religion-faith, death-life, feelings-emotions and madness-sanity.
But as I live in a constant flux I’d rather say that I work with many themes but have a central topic, it is about the human being and its physical and emotional aspects.
I like to play with symbols, meanings, materials and make pieces with a personal aesthetic value.

6. How do you approach working on a new body of work?
My approach is related to my background.  As I have just told you, I live in a flux, being between two cultures. Although I never forget my Mexican background-as this is the place where I come from- I am deeply thankful for the ways my life has changed in Europe. Over the years these two realities got fused in my thoughts, I accept this as a way of life. Often, I think in one language, talk in a different one, and this can happen with two or three languages at the same time. Living in that way I had to learn how to be very specific with what I want to communicate and the ways that I would do it.
To start a new project I take in consideration the theme in general, I analyze my personal viewpoint and also think how this topic can be viewed by other groups of people, cultures, and nationalities. Using this information I like to create pieces that make people think, I am not looking for aesthetic but rather for emotional aspects. My topics are often difficult for people since they don't like to talk about the most natural things in life, like death, love, feelings, and madness.
From experience I can tell you that my work is not the easiest to approach and several times people have told me in a blatant way that they just don’t like it! Often though, after that initial reaction they let me know that somehow the work has affected them in a way that they cannot take their thoughts away from it and that even after several days they were still thinking about some of the pieces.

7. Do you have any expectations from the person who wears your work?
I am pretty sure that if someone wears my work it is because there is a connection, a dialogue with the piece. So, if this has happened I don’t need anything else.

8. Do you have a specific process? Do you plan what to do, do you have a working routine?
My processes are related to the topic but in general, the way I work is first get a very intimate dialogue with the materials and ask myself again and again how I can make them speak and communicate. This part is sometimes difficult, since for each body of work I am using different materials.
When I know I am going to have a full day in my studio I have three little rules, drink my coffee in the morning, get into the studio emptying my mind as much as possible of concerns and work in the most humble and personal way. Work without having any pretentions or big expectations.
​
​9. Could you describe a typical workday for us?
This is a difficult question, because my "typical workdays" are always different!  But I can assure you that my days are full, from morning till night and sometimes the night becomes very short.
As you know I work as an artist and a teacher. For the moment I am a tutor for the first year master students in Alchimia Contemporary Jewelry School in Florence, Italy. I guide some other projects in Chili and in Greece among other places. I am also doing research for my PhD at the Royal Academy of fine Arts in Antwerp. It is important to me among all these activities to try and stay very active with my own artistic work because it is thanks to this that I became a teacher, researcher and a tutor. And not the other way around.
So my days can involve different activities like work in my studio, draw, send e-mails, take the plane, read, write, and very often the combination of two or three of these activities.
There is a part that people sometimes forget or don’t want to see…It is that the Jewelry field changes every day and every day demands a little bit more commitment.
​

10. As a teacher, how do you help your students approach their search for artistic identity?
We always work together, I help them find their true self, be honest and learn to understand what they want to communicate and how. It’s difficult to generalize because each student is different and unique. Since I work in a very personal way I can't tell you of only one way of approach, it is individual to the student.  But it is very important for me that they can find their personal motivation and understand what they are doing.

Jorge Manilla has a busy schedule for 2017! I would like to congratulate him for his new position as the Professor and Subject Area Coordinator of the Metal and Jewelry Art Department at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in Oslo Norway.
He also has a couple of exhibitions planned:
-18th of February /  "Impossible to imagine, when you let go..." at Ra Gallery Amsterdam, Holland.

-10th of March/   "Abruptions" , 84GHz mit Kunstgiesserei, Münich, Germany. 

-9th of March/ "Dicotomias" duo exhibition with Jordi Aparicio, Atelier Gallery - PunktPunktKommaKunst, Münich, Germany.

                                                                              For more information you can visit his website:
                                         http://www.jorgemanilla.com/

                                                                    RELATED POSTS

​In an exclusive interview artist and jewellry designet Jee Hye Kwon -winner of the "After Joya Effect II" public award- talks about her work and inspirations.
We recently had the chance to meet and chat with this talented artist as she came to Greece all the way from New York for a solo show and a lecture at the "Popeye loves Olive" art gallery.
We were able to get a close up look at her beautiful works and she was kind enough to show us photos of her work in progress in the interview that follows.
(Για να διαβάσετε την συνέντευξη στα Ελληνικά πατήστε εδώ)

1. Could you tell us a little about yourself? Who you are and what you do?  
I am an Artist working in Art Jewelry. I was born and raised in Seoul, Korea and live and work in Brooklyn, New York.

2. How did you start making jewelry?
In my childhood, I used to play with clay, paper, doll, and everything that I could get my hands on in order to create something interesting. I could keep going for hours and enjoyed it so much. I’ve always liked to use my hands to create things, and naturally progressed into making jewelry after studying gemology.

3. Why do you make jewelry?
Because I’ve always enjoyed the process of creating my pieces; during the process of conceptual and physical creation, are the points when I feel the most fulfilled and happy. To try and put it simply, I just I follow my heart. ​

10. Your works are amazingly and meticulously crafted.  How much time does it take to complete a piece, a necklace for example, from start to finish?
I think artists get asked that question a lot, and as usual, we always have to make the distinction between the technical and the conceptual. Conceptually the ideas can be anywhere from a split second to several months. But Technically, I can say about 4-5 weeks to craft, depending on size and complexity of the concept. The real heart of any piece is the concept and design. Some pieces moves very smoothly and fast, but some pieces take a lot more time. It is not unusual for me to, stop in the middle of the process if I get stuck, and start working on a new piece, until I get a breakthrough or find some inspiration to return to the first. ​

     A photographic exhibition, under the title"PLACES OF MEMORY" will open its doors tomorrow at the Benaki museum. The exhibition is part of the Athens Photo Festival, the most important festival dedicated to photography in Southeastern Europe and one of the five oldest of its kind in the world. ​

This year’s main theme " [mis/dis]placed" is about the prevailing notions of place and memory as fundamental elements of identity formation.
​
"Places of memory" exhibition is curated by Penelope Petsini.
​The participating artists are:
Artemis Alcalay, Fani Bitou, Io Chaviara, Petros Efstathiadis, Pavlos Fysakis, Stergios Karavatos, Viktor Koen, Nikos Markou, Fotis Milionis, Nikos Panayotopoulos, Avraam Pavlidis, Paris Petridis, Simos Saltiel, John Stathatos, Nikolas Ventourakis, Pasqua Vorgia (GR). 

​​​The artworks featured are by the artist Artemis Alcalay.
  The portarait (above-left) is of Ms. Eriketi Veleli, from the island of Corfu. It is part of the series "Greek Jews, Auschwitz (Shoah) survivors". The work was exhibited at Beit Hatfutsot Museum in Tel Aviv in 2014, at "Agathi" Art gallery as part of the Athens Photo Festival and recently at the Cervantes Institute of Athens 2016.
Ms. Eriketi Veleli was deported to Auschwitz, she survived and returned to Corfu. She married a Greek Christian-Orthodox and changed her name to Photini Rapsomaniki. She passed away two years ago.
  The photograph (above-right) of the ancient Jewish cemetery in Chalkis is part of the series "Home, a wandering". The works were exhibited at Beton 7, 2012 as part of the Athens Photo Festival.
​ A photo art book was simultaneously published by KAPON publications .

                                                                RELATED POSTS

​Five artists in the 2016 Paper Biennial are from the Netherlands, the remaining thirteen are from all over the world.
The participating artists are:
Sabine K. Braun (Germany), Josef Bücheler (Germany), Mandy Coppes-Martin (South Africa), Anne ten Donkelaar (the Netherlands), Lauren Fensterstock (USA), Ina Geissler (Germany), Dorthe Goeden (Germany), Kim Habers (the Netherlands), Paul Andrew Hayes (USA), Anna Jóelsdóttir (Iceland), Yoko Kataoka (Japan), Tracy Luff (Australia), Karen Margolis (USA), Matthew Shlian (USA), Graphic Surgery (the Netherlands), Annie Vought (USA), Joyce Zwerver (the Netherlands)  
 
  The biennial dates are: 11 June - 18 September.
​On Sunday, September 11th there is a paper market in the forecourt of the museum and in the Old Church opposite.
​For more information you can visit: www.museumrijswijk.nl

                                                                 RELATED POSTS

Comme des Garçons Ready to wear Spring/Summer 2016 Collection/ Part 2. Inspired by the theme of  benevolent witches and in line with the motto “expect the unexpected”,  Rei Kawakubo bewitched her audience. She presented an unconventional, sculptural collection, blurring the border between fashion and art.
(You can read the first part here.)

This May marks what would have been the 122th birthday of Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991). She spent her life challenging what dance is and what a dancer can do. Quoting wikipedia:..." her influence has been compared with the influence of Picasso on modern visual arts, the influence of Stravinsky on music and the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture."

Martha Graham, "Lamentation," 1935, photographed by Barbara Morgan.

Flora Vagi is a talented, young jewellery artist whose work was recently featured in Schmuck exhibition, in Munich. Despite her young age, she has already gathered an impressive collection of awards, including the "Cominelli Awards – Special Mention", Saló, Italy, the " Talente" – 1st Prize for Design, International Craft Fair, Munich, Germany and the "World Craft Council - Young Talent Prize", Mons, Belgium.​ We recently had the chance to meet with her, as she came to Athens for a seminar and a lecture  at Anamma and she was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to chat with us, for an exclusive interview.
​Για να διαβάσετε την συνέντευξή της στα Ελληνικά παρακαλώ πατήστε εδώ.

   10 Questions for Flora Vagi

   1 .Could you tell us a little about yourself? Who you are and what you do?
   My name is Flora Vagi. I am an observer who filters life and I am also a jeweller who creates objects to wear and to have. I speak many languages both through my words and through my works.

   2. At what point did you start making jewellery?
It was when my painting teacher in a life drawing class looked at my drawings and told me that since I like to focus and immerse myself in details, maybe, I could look into jewellery.
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  3.4. Are there certain themes present in your artwork?  How do you work? Could you briefly talk about your inspiration and your creative process?
  There are, but they are very broad. Nature and spontaneity are always present.  Surfaces and structures play a crucial role and my aim is to create pieces that are visually on the borderline of something organic and something artificial/ manmade. However, I would say that in general my work is very intuitive. Materials are a great inspiration and I take lots and lots of photographs everywhere I go, pretty much of everything.  I am inspired by fine art works just as much as I am inspired by my environment. I experiment a lot and leave space for surprise. I like to surprise, but also like to be surprised.

  5.  What about the choice of materials? You have presented beautiful jewellery collections made from wood or paper and old books. How did you start using these materials and what do you find intriguing about them?
So far, I always go natural. It is about physical attraction. I work with materials that please my senses.  I love the smell, the touch, including the temperature of them too. This is one of the reasons I left behind the classical goldsmithing that focuses on working with metal.

  6.  Many contemporary jewellers rejected tradition in favor of radical practice. Could you comment on the relationship of tradition and contemporary jewelry?
 To me it is of great value to have a classical goldsmith base. A jeweller not only learns the technique, but also a gets "McGyverish" knowledge in problem-solving and a well trained eye for detail. 

  7.  Who are your heroes?
  My personal heroes are mainly the masters I learned from, during my studies and some I met afterwards. They all are examples of excellence and an unerring eye for detail, of minds that can have a concrete impact on our vision of life, of artists with a distinctive intellectual quality present in their work. They are examples of people that have taught me things way beyond my profession. Some substantial names in order of appearance in my life are:
Manuel Vilhena
Manfred Bischoff
Michael Rowe

   8. The role of the artist has changed over time. Nowadays, what do you see as the role of the contemporary artist?
   I find it has become a rather complex, multifaceted “job”. It certainly seems not enough for an artist just to create. They often need to think and act as managers, social networkers, celebrities and many other roles, simply because most people seem to connect to these kinds of role models nowadays. However, art is still a field that should represent freedom for the individual. A space where one can do whatever she/he imagines or wants to express, whether it is on a canvas, a record, through words or other media.

    9.  The best piece of advice you’ve been given…
  The advice that I haven't been given is to learn from as many people as you can and find a Mentor to look up to, because this person can be the reference point for the rest of your life, regardless of what it's profession is.
​
   10.  Finally, please recommend two or more artists to our readers which you feel deserve their attention.
  The works of the following artists are rather distinctive and unique, each for different reasons. Some are very minimal, some tell a story, but one thing they all have in common is quality. I mixed jewellers and fine artists intentionally, hoping that those who are interested will focus on the artist and not on their medium.

​​I would like to point out, that these are of course just some of the names worth mentioning, there are obviously many more exceptional ones in both fields.

​Marc Monzó
Otto Kunzli 
Celio Braga
Iris Bodemer
​Cy Twombly
Bernhard Schobinger
Kiko Gianocca
Anselm Kiefer



 Top images:   "Rosegold Seanemone", and "Red Seanemone", brooches / book pages, cold enamel, acrylic paint, 18 ct gold. "Red Seanemone": Winner of the World Craft Council Award, 2012. 

The following works are from the "Things happen in a garden"  series. Her materials are wood and acrylic paint and it seems that the artist explores the layers of wood through her intricate paper works.  

For more information you can visit her page: http://www.floravagi.net/ 

                                                                RELATED POSTS

Με περούκες στο κόκκινο της φωτιάς και σκούρα χείλη, τα μοντέλα φορούσαν υφάσματα σε αποχρώσεις του μπλε  και του μαύρου. Τα σώματά τους είχαν μεταμορφωθεί από τον όγκο των υφασμάτων που είχαν διπλωθεί, πτυχωθεί, δεθεί με κόμπους και τυλιχτεί γύρω τους. Περισσότερο από μια επίδειξη μόδας, η συλλογή παρουσιάστηκε ως θεατρική παράσταση με ρούχα μαγικά, με διάθεση για πειραματισμούς και ανατρεπτική καλλιτεχνική έκφραση.

"Paper World" has won numerous awards including the Jury Award at SIGGRAPH 2014 and a gold medal at the New York Festival.
The motif of folded paper animals was part of the concept at the earliest stages.
The setting is a single desktop, as it would be a familiar environment for all, something we could relate to, while it could also symbolize the entire world in itself.
It is intriguing to see how origami can now be used in a wide variety of applications. Since the 1960s and especially in the last few years, the overlap between origami, mathematics, engineering and other disciplines has grown.  Some examles you can see from my previous posts: from the design of a film, to fashion, to self-assembling robots. 

​    Η ταινία"Paper World"-"Χάρτινος κόσμος"  έχει ως θέμα της τη ευαίσθητη σχέση μεταξύ των ανθρώπων και του φυσικού περιβάλλοντος. Δημιουργήθηκε από τους David Ringeisen και László Ruska ως πτυχιακή εργασία κατά τη φοίτησή τους στο Moholy-Nagy Πανεπιστήμιο Τέχνης και Σχεδίου στη Βουδαπέστη. Αυτή η ταινία μικρού μήκους λειτούργησε ως ένα διαφημιστικό για το WWF Ουγγαρίας καθώς αντιπροσωπεύει τις αξίες που η WWF πρεσβεύει. Το φιλμάκι τελειώνει με την φράση: "Είμαστε όλοι συνδεδεμένοι".

Ο "Χάρτινος κόσμος"έχει κερδίσει πολλά βραβεία, συμπεριλαμβανομένου του Βραβείου της Κριτικής Επιτροπής στο SIGGRAPH 2014 καθώς και ένα χρυσό μετάλλιο στο Φεστιβάλ της Νέας Υόρκης.
Το μοτίβο του διπλωμένου χαρτιού στην κατασκευή των ζώων ήταν μέρος του θέματος από τα πρώιμα στάδια της ταινίας.
Η δράση εξελίσσεται στην επιφάνεια εργασίας ενός γραφείου, ένα οικείο περιβάλλον που ταυτόχρονα συμβολίζει ολόκληρο τον κόσμο μας.

Έχει πολύ ενδιαφέρον το πώς η τέχνη του origami μπορεί τώρα να χρησιμοποιηθεί σε μια ευρεία ποικιλία εφαρμογών. Από τη δεκαετία του 1960 και ιδιαίτερα κατά τα τελευταία λίγα χρόνια, οι συνδέσεις μεταξύ origami, μαθηματικών, μηχανικής και άλλων κλάδων έχουν αυξηθεί. Μερικά παραδείγματα μπορείτε να δείτε από τις προηγούμενες δημοσιεύσεις: από το σχεδιασμό μιας ταινίας, έως τη μόδα, και το αυτο-συναρμολογούμενο ρομπότ!

To watch the making of the film press here.
Για να παρακολουθήσετε ένα βίντεο σχετικά με την κατασκευή της ταινίας πατήστε εδώ.