I am an industrial designer from Argentina, 1963; I live and work in Buenos Aires.
I have dedicated myself to artistic and contemporary jewelry for the past twenty-two years. I design collection pieces that are unique and original as well as teach jewelry classes in my workshop; both of these activities give me great pleasure and professional satisfaction.
Contemporary Jewelry is a creative field that allows me to fuse in my creations artistic restlessness with age old techniques, and thus interact socially with my artwork as a medium through which I express the meaning of my work.
When teaching, my objective is focused on maximizing the possibilities and bringing out the best in each student.
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THE BEGINNING
After obtaining my title in industrial design from UNLP in 1987, and having previously completed studies on art, I decided to specialize in contemporary and artistic jewelry by attending various workshops in Argentina and abroad throughout the span of twenty three years.
My current specialization in jewelry is a product of my previous contact with the textile and dressmaking industry. My initial incursion into the world of personal accessories eventually led me to my main activity, jewelry making.
At first I began by using existing or recycled materials and components from other industries and then moved on to processing my own metals and creating my own unique works. My search for artistic elements within jewelry led to each piece developing its own message and transformed them into functional pieces of art.
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| DEVELOPING "ESTEROS" LINE |
DAILY ROUTINE
My day is divided equally between teaching and designing jewelry. For both activities I work alone and do not delegate responsibilities or share my workload with others.
When working on original jewelry each day is laden with both hope and anguish seeing as though the creative process is filled with uncertainty and difficulties.
These feelings are not, however, present when I teach since my role as a teacher turns me into a facilitator and a source of information from where my students can polish their ideas and assuage their anxieties pertaining to their works.
After spending my morning teaching, I spend the afternoon working on my own projects and focus on achieving the greatest amount of work possible within my reach.
The materials that I use for each piece depend on the message that I am trying to convey and vary accordingly.
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| TEACHING |
FINANCING
My workshop is maintained with the fixed income that I receive from teaching.
Occasionally my income is supplemented by the erratic sales of my own creations.
This method of working gives me the liberty to develop whatever projects I find interesting and enables me to choose those that give me the greatest experience in my occupational development.
FLAGSHIP PRODUCTS
My flagship product is the H20 collection.
The idea for it was born from the restlessness and desire to use recycled materials for making jewelry. I therefore developed a collection of pieces that incorporated plastic from water bottles in an attempt to bring attention to the sanitary conditions of our planet as well as the indiscriminate and irresponsible use of disposable synthetic materials.
The H20 collection therefore alludes to the natural resource of water because it is made from plastic containers that housed water and evokes different manifestations of the element. I highlight this collection because it marks an important milestone in my work.
The H20 collection is significant because it carries an extremely important message regarding our current ecological situation while at the same time maintaining artistic poetry.
My first sketches of the collection were created during a seminar dictated by two Japanese professors, Jiro Kamata and Sayumi Yokouchi. After hearing their lectures I decided to work on the collection during the summer of 2012 and won the “Premio Adquisición del XI Salón Diario La Capital” from the “Museo Castgnino” in Rosario Argentina.
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TRADITION AND INNOVATION
All my pieces respect the unique characteristics of each material that I utilize.
After masterfully processing and working the materials with traditional techniques they all showcase the possibilities that each material allows. In this sense I maintain the traditional dogmas of artisanal jewelry making.
However, I do stray by proposing innovative and modern configurations that utilize unorthodox materials and combining them with traditional materials that allow me to add conceptual content and convey messages through my work.
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| "TELARES" BRACELET |
GOALS
I would like to expand my contact with cultural institutions and liaisons that would allow me to display my work.
At a national level, I would like to spread the classes that I teach in my workshop through the work of my students.
I currently have various pieces that are essentially ready to be displayed but lack the support from institutions in regards to transportation and insurance.
I would also like to display my pieces in foreign countries and it is towards this goal that I am mainly working for by entering my works in competitions and publications.
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| LOOM PENDANT |
LEGACY: What advice would you give to an aspiring artisan?
I would advise any artists to not let themselves be defeated by moments of doubt and anxiety. We all have those moments, but we must overcome them and trust that whatever we do with passion will eventually be worthwhile, and that the first benefit of perseverance is the realization of all of our dreams.
MAKE A CALL TO WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHOW YOUR WORK
I would like my interview to be seen by Ursula Ilse-Neuman, curator of jewelry in the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
Dear Ursula Ilse-Neuman,
It would be of great importance for my development as a professional if you could please take a look at the pieces of contemporary jewelry that I create.
Your opinions and advice on achieving greater notoriety in terms of my work would be extremely important and a great help, especially in my capacity as a teacher. I have attached contact portfolios. Thank you very much for your time and help.
Kindest Regards,
Fabiana Gadano
CONTACT FABIANA GADANO
info@fabianagadano.com.ar
