Teodor Siminic winner of three awards on his first participation in AUTOR 2017, including the ASSAMBLAGE Award, an accolade offered by AUTOR in collaboration with Assamblage School of Contemporary Jewelry, returns to AUTOR in 2018 and talks to us about his experience at ASSAMBLAGE
This award, which consists of a jewelery course organized by Assamblage Contemporary Jewelry School, aims to encourage and boost the development of a young Romanian designer who is up and coming both creatively and on the technical side.
“I chose Teodor Siminic,” says David Sandu, founder and director of the Assamblage School, “because I believe he is a young artist at the point of coagulating his skills, fact confirmed by the three prizes received at AUTOR 2017. Both myself and Andreia Gabriela Popescu, lecturer at Assamblage, considered that wax modelling is the technique that could complement Teodor’s technical and aesthetic repertoire. His type of approach, playful and spontaneous, fits well with the technique of wax, which leaves room for development, experiment and recovery, being a very generous tool of expression. Teodor is the kind of artist who, because he has a very structured way of understanding things, can turn very little into a lot, and certainly what he has learned from us will reflect on what he will do later. “
AUTOR: What is the story of your meeting with contemporary jewelry and how has that relationship evolved? What does it mean to you as an artist?
Teodor Siminic: My first meeting with contemporary jewelery was when I stopped on Victoriei Street, in front of David Sandu’s gallery; it was then that I realized the fact that jewelry is much more than what I knew about it before. Contemporary art jewelery for me is a way of showing how / what you feel … to yourself and to those who look t it; is more than a precious object that embellishes your outfit. It’s a conceptual sculpture that speaks to others about you.
AUTOR: Your first participation at AUTOR fair brought you the ASSAMBLAGE Award at AUTOR 2017. What does this award mean to you?
Teodor Siminic: I can say that the Assamblage Award was a great surprise for me. It is the first serious “encouragement” I receive in the field of contemporary jewelery, a field I entered 5-6 years ago as a graduate of the University of Fine Arts – the Metal Glass Ceramic Section.
AUTOR: Waxing and centrifugal casting course is your first course at the Assamblage School? How would you describe the Assamblage experience?
Teodor Siminic: The Assamblage wax casting course wat right on point, for the simple fact that I did not know this technique in jewelery. David Sandu and Andreia Popescu are “very strong” artists and very good teachers, who explain everything so well, so there was no need to ask “what and how” twice. Okay, and even if i would have asked, it wouldn’t have been a problem:). Even if the course lasted only three days, it is very intense, and at the end of the day, you really feel that you have accumulated enough knowledge. Of course, the more you practice after, the better! Like any craftship. Even the school’s located on a beautiful street, in a beautiful home with beautiful people. Everything is beautiful there, especially contemporary jewelery. It is the new form of art in Romania, and I hope it will link as many people as possible: those who create it and those who wear it.
