It all started at the #20 AUTOR anniversary edition in 2023, where Mădălina received the Alchimia Award.
Her experience turned into a memorable one. She met extraordinary artists and witnessed a community full of vitality and openness to communication. This experience was crowned with the surprise of winning the Alchimia Award, which was converted into a scholarship for a contemporary jewelry scholarship.
Mădălina: Thank you AUTOR for the opportunity, thank you to Alchimia for the welcome and guidance!
You can see Mădălina with her new collection at AUTOR 2024 on 18-19 MAY at the University, GHICA House.
Experience at AUTOR 2023, where he won the Award for Alchimia:
An edition I joined shyly, but an unforgettable one. I met amazing artists, some became close friends. I met a joyful community, open to communication, with so many artistic perspectives, with diverse technical approaches, all sharing a common creativity and vulnerability to expose their visions through this artistic medium, jewelry.
My memory is all the more meaningful as I was surprised to win the coveted Alchimia Award. I didn’t even dare to dream of this award. The surprise was so great that my name was shouted three times before I disabused myself that I was the one being presented with it.
About Alchimia and the prize offered by AUTOR.
I had heard a lot about Alchimia right from the beginning of my journey into the world of jewelry. It is a very famous school of contemporary jewelry, a school that all novices in contemporary jewelry dream of, and about which all connoisseurs in the field speak with great respect and admiration. The prize is two weeks of intensive training at Alchimia and I chose to add another week as my travels were taking me there to make the most of the experience. So in early April this year I went to the city of the great Renaissance artists, Florence, for three weeks.
The school is located in the heart of Florence, in narrow streets full of history, with small squares, cafes and gelaterias around.
The beginning, the teachers and the Alchimia experience
On my first day, I was greeted by Lucia Massei, the headmistress and founder of the school. I was welcomed with open arms and guided to my work table. There I met Sayaka Ito, my teacher for my first week.I received a folder with a “survival kit” (list of museums, list of material shops, etc.), an apron and a kit with the tools I would use during my stay there.
A discussion with Sayaka followed in which I told her what I wanted to learn and then she gave me a tour of the school. Everything is available to the students, with small exceptions of machinery that can only be used under the supervision of a teacher. The school has a small library where everyone can retreat for study or exploration of ideas.
I really liked this aspect, so complex and necessary.
Trainees enjoy annual workshops by various artists who specialise in particular techniques, and every few weeks students are treated to a gemstone dealer. We also learned about the famous Zecchi pigment shop.
The teachers in the intensive course programme change approximately every two weeks. So my first mentor was teacher Sayaka, and the last two weeks I worked under the guidance of teacher Daniela Boieri. I learned a lot under their guidance. I really liked their dedication to the learners. I strived to be like a sponge, absorbing as much new knowledge as possible. And I am very happy with everything this experience has given me!
Lucia, is a very open person, I have enjoyed very complex feedback from her and guidance for future projects.
Learning, learning and development
When you come to “Alchimia”, you have to be open-hearted and open-minded, eager to learn, open to constructive criticism and have a desire to learn, explore and work. Teachers are your guides, and the information can sometimes seem overwhelming, but you get encouragement and guidance on what you are best at.
I have enjoyed learning new closure systems, sand casting, new Japanese alloys, patina recipes, stone mounts and received guidance on how to relate to future project development, research steps and a direction to complement the passion
my passion for enamel.
I was lucky enough to synchronize, during the period chosen for the course, with the exhibition of Bernhard Schobinger, one of the fathers of contemporary jewelry and a great friend of the Alchimia School, which took place at the Antonella Villanova Gallery. A retrospective of the jewelry artist, where we discovered works made in the 80s, so current on the jewelry scene
contemporary jewelry.
About diversity, colleagues and friends
Colleagues from Germany, Taiwan, Australia, Colombia and the United States are part of the wonderful Alchimia experience. I was delighted to discover the masterwork of Lumi, one of the colleagues I met since the second week of the course. The way she described her project, the complexity of documenting, adapting to diverse materials, stepping out of her comfort zone were some of the things that were so inspiring.
Add to all this the moments spent discovering Florence, the museums visited, lunch and dinners with new friends.
Article by Vlad Lixandru for AUTOR Magazine.
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