How I never got to the Ambient Romexpo Fair

            Apart from the title, this is the story of something borrowed and something gained. I borrowed a spoon of free time and I gained everything that will be worth being mentioned just by writing a big , self-explanatory word – inspiration. My home plans were clear and I even had a foot walk trajectory. But, my plans vanished once I got to my first stop. It was the “Autor – Design jewelry  Fair”. I must confess that I am an average fashion lover, with no desperate addiction. I enjoy fashion as a form of art, but I am honest enough to admit that ,from my point of view, fashion is not supreme to any other form of art in particular. It’s as equal in my eyes, or even a little bit below any other.

           So, here I am , admitting to be relaxed about this and free to feel surprised , but hardly in love with it. Of course, this is the story of my conversion. You’ve guessed well that this “looking around” has been transformed in “drooling around”. The local artists and the few foreign master hands have proved me wrong. They showed me that when concepts meet art and when art meets craft, something truly magic happens. I’ve felt passion running around every inch of the masterpieces shown and a care for the baby born goodies that almost didn’t seem for sale. They seemed to belong to the creator, because they represented the strongest statement that he had to admit.

      Clarisse Bruynbroeck , a Belgium based artist told me the story of her sister’s eating disorder disease which she represented in her very delicate, shy and linear designs. The minimalist design approach had a very profound story. She basically ventured to translate the characteristics of anorexic emotions in jewelry. This life changing health problem with its tremendous impact had a translation of gentle delicacy. The idea was a poem and the jewelry was almost as discreet as a watermark. We set in the kitchen table talk scenario for almost half an hour. When I left, I surely knew more about how she sees the art that she masters, and also more about the exclamation mark that her statement jewelry meant to raise. I congratulated her for the boldness of the attempt and suggested her to sell the idea to an advertising agency. It’s worth millions and it would save people thinner than myself. By this means, I wish to wave her a “bonne voyage” to Amsterdam where she will expose her installation which will underline once more the social debate that it is meant to create.

   Kalina Chankova was to me, a very tasteful presence at the fair. Literally, she left me no choice but the one to admit that, If I could, I would have invited her to the special exhibition space that I projected in my architectural thesis project (A culinary arts center) . There she would have had plenty of space to express her kitchen gadget inspired jewelry. It was fun, it had the maximum admitted colours in a very neutral and cool combo. Her statement about fashion jewelry was very simple : creativity takes “anything” and makes “something “ (beautiful, I may add) from it. This is exactly what she did. She chose some inspiring kitchen gadgets that her selective eye admitted to have “the potential” and she made them be the kind of accessories that you would like to wear. Alternative to the bone!

Neva Balnikova  knits plastic.

    Walking from wonder to wonder, from rubies , silver water drops, exotic wood rings and impressive sparks, knitted jelewelry holding heavy rocks and reinterpretations of the swan ring in and out, I met what I will fully name “a Tim Burton” production. Madalina Stoica is the kind of person that excuses herself when she presents her art, that kind of person which is not blind nor a fool, but still has that kind of vintage modesty as to admit that what she is showing today is only a first try. Well, she got the Ace card from the playing pack. Her intelligence, taste and surprise factor makes her jewelry a constant prove that you’re perception upon how to put that ring on the finger is wrong. First of all, that is not a ring, the whole that you see is not the one in which you put your finger in…but look how it works. Simple, isn’t it? Well, simple…not, but ingenious…definitely. All in all, my strong opinion is that she should make some schemes for dummies that should accompany her designs. Their mechanic look (due to her former technique education) is exactly that kind of harsh feminine antique beauty that fewer and fewer women adopt . Why, I can’t tell. I love it!

MADALINA STOICA CREATIONS

Charmed by the 1 to 1 presence of a traditional jewelry working table and by the set of medieval look gadgets, I turned my back to see some “pezzi di sogni”. The dream works were absolutely “da sogno”. The mixed textures of volcanic magma with fossils and rocks , and textile applications and the free range of colors was an eye’s bliss.

 Wooden organic necklaces, silver monoblocks, dry architectural designs, parrot color degrades, shiny , matte, dark or light but never simple. The complexity of mind and the simple perfection of the eye and the hand drag my radical conclusion. Either wear a fashion statement jewelry or none at all.

PEZZI DI SOGNI CREATIONS

 RALUCA BUZURA CREATIONSwww.ralucabuzura.blogspot.com

DANIELA TUDOR JEWELRY www.alliage.ro

My architect eye couldn’t help notice the inventively of the presentation, the parametric paper madness, and the way each of the artists added value to the product by the presentation they chose was really inspiring. Shocking that only a few of them have artistic studies. More just felt to do it, felt to enter this very thin niche, finding themselves in a very vast territory, that I spied happily for almost 3 hours.

Reporting back to you,

Alma