Angela Ciobanu
"Piece for the Heart"

Our mind collects memories. Bits of time, certain places, words, whispers, smiles, touches, fragrances perforate and cut their way, ‘wounding’ our mind until they become part of it. Blissful or painful, we store them and we continuously transform them, changing as well the value we confer them. I tried to look beyond the commonly accepted idea that jewellery is associated to, that of adornment for the body. I disregarded the value the piece of jewellery should have in the eye of the viewer, and stressed upon the meanings and the values it has for the wearer. The notion of preciousness, if any, is to be revealed primarily to the wearer, as a very personal experience. My objects are fragile, nearly ephemeral, reflecting the fragility of the memories that created them. And they bring back whispers, moments, smiles that ought not to be forgotten.

Brooch. Recycled silk paper, silver, 24k gold keum boo and granulation, saw blades.

Mirroring my fascination with imperfections and surprising details placed in apparently conventional shapes, my work is the pursuit of a certain unexpected strength that lies in fragility and lightness. The objects that I create push the traditional confines of jewellery, challenging the idea that a piece of jewellery should be just an adornment for the body. I perceive my studio as a ground for experiments, a fab lab where creativity meets old manufacturing techniques and innovative technology.
Currently living and working in Vienna, I was born in 1984 in Bucharest and I have graduated from the University of Architecture ‘Ion Mincu’ in the same city. I worked my first piece of jewelry in March 2010 – a ring that I lost, a month later, in an airport.