Langgewagt - Jewel with a story - 2013

Necklace and a multiple of brooches

‘Jewel with a story’ was a project initiated by Claartje Keur and was running for over 10 years under the roof of CODA Museum in Apeldoorn. Claartje was pointing out a young, according to her, talented contemporary jewellery maker and asked her to make a collier and 25 multiple brooches. The collier would become part of the collection of CODA Museum, the multiple brooches were available for purchase among the public. Claartje was supervising the project by coming to studio visits and having conversations together about the research. The idea was that the collier is a tribute to someone we honour and the finished piece had to be fitting a woman or a man equally. I chose my house ‘Langgewagt’ where I was living at that time. Although it is not a person, I wanted to express my gratitude to be able to live there and the opportunities that it give to me by living there. It was a squatted house with a rich history and I moved there while I was graduating from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. This was the place where I had my first studio from 2010 to 2015. To make the piece I was inspired by the shifted layers that each floor had towards each other (I always thought it was like that, but a thorough visit to the cityhall to see the blueprints of our house confirmed my suspicions), that is why I was looking for a layeredness in the piece. Also the cornerstones of each window were different, which were the basic building elements of my necklace. For this piece I was using blackened steel and try to work as much as possible with no left overs. For me it was a parallel idea with squatting: no house is empty, each void is filled.

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Sadly, Claartje Keur passed away in March 2020, below you can read my tribute to her and about our cooperation in this project.

“Goodbye, dear Claartje, what a very passionate and committed woman you were, with a strong will and precise idea of ​​the course of events. Inspiring and the initiator of beautiful projects, including "Jewelry with a story" that you invited me to join in 2013. I remember your first email that you wanted to visit my studio. I was very excited and secretly hoped that your visit was related to this project. And so it was! I was and still incredibly proud that you, with all your knowledge, experience and collection in the field of contemporary jewelry, chose me to be the next to make a necklace and 25 matching multiple brooches under your guidance for 'Jewelry with a story'. Thank you for that! It was not only a very nice and exciting challenge but also an honour and recognition for which I am very grateful for to you. Your visits during the development of the collier were always inspiring and an extra new engine. Our conversations turned on my head and I always felt motivated to exceed your expectations. Every time you left you left me with inspiration and your drive to want to make something special. The necklace "Langgewagt" eventually became the beginning of new paths in my way of making which gave me a lot of pleasure and many new pieces were created based on my research of that year. Thank you for the honour and pleasure of working with you and for the trust you gave me only 3 years after my graduation. This photo was taken before I started my presentation of the project at CODA Museum in Apeldoorn, where the jewelry is included in the collection. You are wearing the necklace "By Night" made by me. Dear Claartje, thank you and goodbye.”