The winners of the 2018 Herbert Hofmann Prizes, one of the most coveted international awards in the field of jewellery design, are Lin Cheung, Julia Maria Künnap and Gernot Leibold.
The prizes were awarded to three contributors to the SCHMUCK at the Internationale Handwerksmesse on Saturday, March 10th.
The jury described the nephrite and gold green brooch “Why Is It All Overgrowing” by Julia Maria Künnap, one of this year’s Herbert Hofmann Prize recipients, as a “masterpiece of stone polish”. The titles of her work form a poem, and each one is a standalone jewellery item, whether it appears as a wide, blue brushstroke or a melting letter.
The jury were also impressed by the quadratic brooches by Gernot Leibold from Germany. Explaining that these were surprising in their material combinations and thus awarded them one of the Herbert Hofmann Prizes.
“Delayed Reaction Series” is the title of the brooches cut into stone by Lin Cheung of the United Kingdom, who was also awarded a Herbert Hofmann Prize for their reflection of the artist’s mixed feelings of the world around her. The “Non Plus” brooch refers to the events since the EU Referendum and the ongoing debates concerning the United Kingdom’s future in Europe.
The Herbert Hofmann Awards are organised in the form of a competition, receiving applications from jewellery designers all over the world and this year saw more than 900 applications.