Making Jewelry in Venice: what it means to me
Venice is a unique city, often defined as a city on water. I was born and raised here, therefore I have a love and hate relationship with Her. I am well aware that it's my comfort zone, I feel protected and at ease in the lagoon. It has the dimension of an international city, as it is visited from people from all over the world, and a lively artistic life, with major contemporary arts exhibitions like Biennale. At the same time, though, it has many of the features of a small town.
We Venetians all know each other and perhaps because we aren't that many, there are no -or very few- spontaneous events. I remember when there were many outdoor concerts and parties, open to everyone, occasions to have fun and listen to live music. Unfortunately now, most events are 'exclusive', organized in very elegant palazzos and requiring an entry ticket. This is one of the things I am not so enthusiastic about, in fact if it were for me... I would go to a concert every evening!
In Venice everything is splendor, the light in particular is so magical. In fact, when I think of Venice's architectures, of the quadrilobes and the numerous Palazzos, I cannot separate them from their environment, they are all one whole thing. With their reflections on water, shapes acquire an unrepeatable balance. The heaviness of the physical structure is counterbalanced by the lightness of its mirroring. The water is like a mirror, which modifies shapes without modifying their composition and combinations.
This fascinates me a lot, in fact I have quite a few mirrors in my studio and I play with them when creating my jewelry. I duplicate shapes and repeat them. If we think about it, it is the same for the famous glass Murrine, which are nothing but the same shape/pattern repeated and then modified through their processing.
Among my creations, the ones that can be more easily linked to the city, are the Quadrilobo Collection, which recalls the colonnade of Palazzo Ducale, and the 6 FILI bracelet, which recalls the shades of the windows gratings.
But as previously mentioned, what moves me most about Venice are its natural elements. The water in particular, the way it reflects light and becomes one whole thing with the sky, as if the horizon was just a tool to blend them together. Then the islands and the marshlands, with their wild vegetation, so different from north to south lagoon. The stones and bricks, marked by atmospheric agents and time. The colors of the mold and the diverse forms it takes, often reminding me of an abstract painting. The rotten wooden panels. So much texture! The marine world, the fish, mollusks and crustaceans. The birds.
The living flora and fauna and the marvelous dusks and dawns we get to witness, not to mention the fog, with its peculiar perfume. Certain days in which one can barely see at a meter distance... then the tide, high and low... never resting and too often causing problems to residents, reminding us that we should be respectful of the environment and accept the innate slowness of this one-of-a-kind place.
The ways in which I include Venice in my jewelry design are subtle, or at least I hope so. To be honest, they are never planned or calculated, as all my creations are born not from a preparatory drawing but from my hands following my imagination. The materials I use, aluminium and stretchy steel threads, allow me to play with light and reflections, as they continuously interact with the environment. The tridimensional shapes are apparently simple, but require patience and time to be transformed. The choice of creating everything by hand, even the materials, and enhancing the beauty of diversity and imperfection.
I like to think that my jewels are slow. Yes, slow, because they forced me to stop and make the decision to dedicate the right time to their study and understanding. They helped me rediscover the importance of TIME and SLOWING DOWN, to be able to better comprehend and develop acceptance. I asked myself if this depends on the fact that Venice is a city with a naturally slow pace, but I realized that it has been the art of manual work itself that has led me to prioritize slowness. What Venice did, was to train me to notice and pay attention to all the small details, thus when one focuses on the small minutiae... a lot of time is necessary!
So, I could say that for me making jewelry and working as a designer in Venice means understanding that beauty gives you the strength and power to overcome all challenges, to experience and let my imagination be fired by a unique environment that gathers together natural and human-made elements, and of course to exchange ideas and meet both locals and international people. I believe to be very fortunate and finally, in this post, I was able to share some photos of my creations in their place, almost as site-specific works!
As always, I will end the post reminding you that you are welcome to contact me for a private visit in my studio, where you can discover and try all the different designs. Looking forward to sharing my space and my work with you.
AB Andreina Brengola
F.ta dei Tolentini 180 A, 30135 venezia (VE)
info@andreinabrengola.com
(+39)-3394963749
Photography: Nicoletta Fornaro