Distinctive jewellery designed by Eicke Schmidt is on display at the Artisan Gallery on Florida Road. But art lovers better hurry if they want to catch this exhibition as it closes on Saturday.
According to the owner of Artisan Gallery, Ingrid Smith, the jewellery is comprised of chunks of raw as well as polished semi-precious stones which are combined with antique silver ornamental pieces to create spectacular contemporary necklaces. Each piece is unique and the work brings together items from Schmidt’s extensive travels.
In an interview with Tonight, Schmidt explains where her inspiration comes from as a jeweller and what her work represents within the art world.
Explaining her journey, she shares: “Art has been part of my upbringing. My mother (an accomplished pianist and singer) has always shown me how important aesthetics and beauty are, even in the most depressing circumstances of war, refugee camps and starvation.
“When my husband, Eberhard, and I immigrated to Durban in 1969, we were soon captivated by the exciting local art scene in the early 1970s. It was so inspirational that I started studying fine arts at Unisa and then was asked to create a jewellery design department at the University of Durban Westville.
“The emphasis of my Unisa course was on the history of art, painting and especially sculpture, which formed for me a natural progression into jewellery.”
As for her work, the artist says she sees her jewellery as small sculptural objects, which adorn and embellish a person and express individualism.
“The pieces are assemblages from various sources. I prefer combining objects and items that have a historical and/or ethnic background. This means that all the pieces created are individual and unique.”
Of her work at the Artisan Gallery, she says: “My jewellery at the gallery represents the full range of materials I use – silver, copper, brass, jade, amber, wood, precious and semi-precious stones, crystals, glass. These materials are combined into miniature sculptures in which rightness of shape and colour characterise my art.”
Steering the conversation to some of the obstacles she has faced as an artist over the years, Schmidt tells me that her biggest challenge is to always find interesting items: “I scour antique fairs, flea markets and local art markets etc. My inspirations normally come from studying ethnic adornments – body art, metal craft objects, wood carvings or weavings. The sources are endless and inspiring as people through millenia have endeavoured to make life more beautiful through their art and creativity.”
Along with Schmidt’s jewellery collection, new textiles from Caversham are also on display.
• The exhibition runs until Saturday at Artisan Gallery. Call 031 312 4364.