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Pensieri Preziosi 19 - Like WATER… : MARI ISHIKAWA

AGC Selects alla Glasgow School of Art - Progetti di laurea 2024

AGCpunto24 é la mostra annuale dell'Associazione Gioiello Contemporaneo

60 autori, tutti soci dell'associazione AGC con le loro opere esposte, realizzate con i più svariati materiali (metalli, tessuti, legno, resine, pietre, vetro e carta) e tecniche, dalle pratiche orafe più antiche, come il niello o il mokume-gane, alle tecnologie digitali e alla manifattura additiva.

Tea Brick

China, as the homeland of tea, has a long-standing tea culture. There are over 2,000 different varieties of tea in China. Tea-related culture such as tea performances, tea competitions, and tea ceremonies varies across different regions, encompassing a diverse range of tea varieties, tea-making techniques, and associated customs.

Since early 2023, I have embarked on a collaboration with a CHAxART gallery located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This unique establishment combines a teahouse with a fine art gallery, actively promoting the dissemination of Chinese tea culture and intercultural art. As part of this collaboration, the gallery collects the tea leaves that are consumed by guests and visitors throughout the month. These collected tea leaves are then shipped to me in Munich, where I will utilize them as materials for a new series of jewellery projects with a focus on material-based design. Through the collaboration works, tea itself has been endowed with the meaning of intercultural communication.

Tea used played a crucial role as a form of currency circulating along the Maritime Silk Road, connecting trade routes between the Eurasian continent and China. Moreover, it served as a significant medium for promoting cultural exchanges and integration between the East and the West. When I travel to various countries, I rely on a mobile travel app to document the paths of my exhibitions and journeys. These paths serve as a testament to my experiences and memories in Europe, which I subsequently transform into brooches for presentation. Each tea brick represents a piece of my personal journey throughout Europe, symbolizing the accumulation of my experiences along the way as well.

Material: Recycled Chinese tea, 925 silver, Stainless steel wire

UNDER THE SKIN

The three brooches are the development of the concept of pain and trauma, representing the processing of a traumatic event. The brooches, cylindrical shaped hollow structures, containing a hidden compartment, a metaphor of the human state, linear and simple on the outside but complex on the inside. The wearer can choose to share the inside with an audience or keep it for themselves.

The garnets represent pain during the processing of a traumatic event; in brooch N.4, all the emotions are concentrated in the center due to now knowing how to process them. N.5 represents an inevitable explosion with different levels of tube settings surrounded by a ring of pins. Finally, in N.6, the rotatory chaotic motions of N.4/N.5 cease. Residue of pain is represented by some hidden red garnets, in a surface evenly filled with pins and a calming motion when moved, trauma is processed.

Materials: Sterling Silver, Stainless-steel pins, red garnets from Mozambique and Second-hand red garnets donated by Scottish Goldsmiths Trust

JUST IN CASE

A series of four portable brushes and an object. Absurd objects, out of place, unexpected, playful and political,pieces to start a conversation.

Techniques and materials: Carved wood necklace with a brush tip as a lock.
Repurpose wooden Bracelet with brush hair.

In case of emergency box, painted photo frame, a brush and transfer letters.

VOID

There is a Chinese saying: Great music has the faintest notes; great form is beyond shape.

In this project, the aesthetic value of gemstones is transformed into charming and beautiful works in this way. The set of works uses a framework to depict gemstones and their refracted light, attempting to evoke a delicate and ethereal beauty about space. The void outlined by the metal line implies the space occupied by gemstones, which can accommodate infinite possibilities and is not bound by internal concepts, reflecting the profound thinking of empty spaces in Chinese culture.

Materials: Brass gold plated, 3D printing.