Three contemporary jewelry artist from Tel Aviv took inspiration from Wislawa Szymborska’s poem – U T O P I A – an island of answers that proves to be inexistent. Daniella Saraya, Gili Doliner and Tami Eshed created three separate collections that were displayed together at Athens Jewelry Week 2019, each one of them playing with concepts, materials and functionalities, the result being a calm, yet surprising, jewelry universe.
Daniella Saraya’s series of jewelry-objects is seen as an instrument which indicates the Muslim prayer direction (Qiblah), the position taken by one’s body in order to perform a ritual-gesture. The jewels are compasses, connecting and guiding material and spiritual life.
Trough its meaning, but also trough its functionality, Danielle’s collection becomes dystopic. Her jewels can turn against you, as Wislawa Szymborska’s poem. Therefore, we can’t have a predetermined direction.
An object can ask questions without offering any answer. Playful and joyful in appearance, moving and having pink shimmery components, objects can be unexpected, even violent, turning into weapons.
Daniella Saraya, Utopia
Gili Doliner’s collection wants to remind us of the importance of living in the present. She chose day by day experiences, transforming them into screaming objects, objects that reverberate: Wait, look, clear your mind and be!
The artist’s objects can’t be worn, but their form directly connects with the viewer’s body, with its movement, offering a new approach on contemporary jewelry.
One object breathes, following human behavior. The attention is on the breathing process, a process we look at, a process we hear, but a process we forget to observe in ourselves. We only remember to live in the present when we are with somebody else, when we hear someone else breathing. Gili’s objects are surprisingly attractive: they make you stop, look at them, search for their meaning. Questioning their meaning, you can find yourself questioning your own existence.
Gili Doliner, Utopia
Tami Eshed is fascinated by Bjork’s video clips, wishing to mind-travel to unknown islands. Her attraction towards cold, small countries led to drawings of landscapes and vegetation which she transferred on jewels, brooches and rings. Tami’s work depicts two worlds – a warm, calm one (the Utopia) and a cold, uninhabited one (the Dystopia). Admiring her work you can find yourself wondering: What if…?
Tami Eshed, Utopia
As you go further, looking and touching, you can live the metamorphosis of Wislawa Szymborska’s island. Even if you understand what you see, the essence is not so obvious, opinions being altered and (re)modeled. The exhibition is the perfect combination between naive and frightening, between rough surfaces (silver) and delicate surfaces (ceramics), between silence and prolonged conversations – because nothing is what it seems to be.
The three artists exhibited a game of appearances, of volumes and materials. It was about getting out of your visual comfort zone. Both, the poem and the exhibition reflect the harsh reality, a hidden reality that can only be revealed by asking the right questions and experimenting.
You can read Wislawei Szymborska’s poem here.
