curator: Heidemarie Herb

design: P.Zimmermann

This exhibition shows a number of different approaches to amber, running the gamut from artists working with amber for the first time, to those who have been working with it for an extended period.

The contrasts in these works should help to update the traditional and still rather one-sided view of amber jewelry, showing new possibilities about this interesting material.

More than something washed ashore 

Edmund Spenser once wrote his lover’s name in the sand at the shore,

twice, but the waves washed it away.

The waves also transform amber, which is soft, warm, and can be white, yellow, brown, black, or skin tone. Amber is an organic substance, sometimes opaque, other times translucent, revealing a glimpse of its interior, with wonderful inclusions of a forgotten time. It can be alluring, electric, and when its contact is desired, it has healing qualities.

Spenser’s lover told him that he and his gesture were both vain and for

naught, as both she and her name were ephemeral. Spenser responded that his verses would immortalize her virtues and inscribe her name in heaven.

While jewelry makers may be forced to work with more mundane materials at their disposal, their works in amber need neither explanation nor interpretation: The effect is immediate.

The philosopher Michel Foucault* declared the death of the object as

the source and basis of knowledge, freedom, language and history, perceiving a danger that mankind would disappear like footprints in the

sand. Spenser reaches a different conclusion: When death overtakes the world, our love lives on, and renews the life that comes after it.

This is why jewelry makers work with amber: For a sense of personal

happiness, and for the well-being of the living.

 

                                                                                      Karl Bollmann

 

*Michel Foucault, Les Mots et les choses. Une archéologie des sciences humaines,

1966, Dits et Écrits, 1994

 

                                                             Defner Elisabeth

                              ring, untitled, copper, silver, opal, amber, photo by artist, 2015

 

                                                         Foerster Christiane

                             brooch, 60x35x70 mm, silver, mother of pearls, amber

                                                       photo N. Weber, 2015



                                                               Herb Heidemarie

                         neckpiece, "time", 130mm, iron, silver, baltic amber, brass, natural rope,

                                                              photo S. Tili, 2014

                                                               Hermsen Herman

                        pendant, "mona", 120x70mm, wood, amber, photoprint on aluminium

                                                            photo by artist, 2015

                                                            Klockmann Beate

                      ring, " n.T." , 25x25x40mm, gold, amber, plastic, photo by artist, 2015 

                                                                 Kodrè Helfried

                           brooch, untitled, silver, amber, 120x15mm, photo by artist, 2015

                                                                   Sajet Philip

                       "potato chip ring" , height 25mm, gold,amber, photo B. Klockmann, 2015

                                                             Skubic Peter

                          brooch, "Todesengel" (Angel of Death), 90x85x27mm, photo P. Zimmermann, 2015

                                                              Stach Gisbert

              brooch, "golden toast 2", 11x10,5x8mm, baltic amber, transparent silicon

                                              stainless steel, photo by artist, 2013

                                                                

                                                               
                                                               Zimmermann Petra

                              rings, untitled, amber, PMMA, gold, photo by artist, 2014/2015

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Comment by Heidemarie Herb on June 18, 2015 at 6:41am

Thank you Katja :)

Comment by Katja Toporski on June 17, 2015 at 5:47pm

What a fabulous spectrum of fresh interpretations of a traditional jewel- I wish I could see it in person!

Comment by Heidemarie Herb on June 10, 2015 at 3:30am

Thank you Brigitte :) !!!

Comment by Brigitte Martin on June 9, 2015 at 8:10am

Thank you, Heidemarie, for showing these wonderful pieces. Refreshing to see a new take on amber. Much appreciated!

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