Spot the Designer - Bianca Badescu/ Romania

What did you want to be when you were a child?

When I was a child, I wanted to be a fashion designer, but also a writer and, somehow, I managed to combine both in my adult life, but in different forms. And I had no idea how to do that, it just happened, this is where the road took me.

When have you started creating jewelry? How did this passion come about?

I first started to create jewelry from beads and chains in high school, with a friend. We used to meet and stay for hours to create necklaces, bracelets and earrings. But we abandoned the project after about a year, I don’t even remember why. Years later, I was still doing jewelry for me or my family from time to time and I had this desire to go to school and learn how to make real jewelry, to work with precious metals. But since I had a full-time job and the impression that dreams can wait, in order to achieve first what society expects from us, I didn’t find the time for that. Then I had an accident, a car hit me out of the blue, I was in a coma, I had brain surgery and it took me about a year to recover, while I stayed at home. This was a time of deep introspection, when I started to question myself and my life and I realized that I truly don’t have time to waste, that we can cease to exist at any moment and the least we can do is to live a fulfilling life and try to pursue our dreams. So, I started to listen to my core, to do the things I felt like doing and making jewelry was one of these things.  

What was your first project or significant piece for you and from what point of view?

I can’t tell this exactly, maybe the first chain that I’ve manufactured, link by link, maybe the pieces that I’ve created by risking and experimenting with things that others said will not work. But every piece is significant for me because it has my energy, my emotions and also my time and effort in it. I create jewelry out of joy, out of passion, for the sake of manifesting my creativity, my freedom and expressing important messages about life. I don’t create jewelry to impress anybody, nor to help people stand out or show off, or anything like that. I make jewelry that encapsulates a philosophy of life.  I truly believe that people that are attracted by my jewelry are the ones that resonate with my energy and have the capacity to understand my message. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

How do you charge your batteries? What other passions and creative interests do you have?

I think that everything that involves creativity interests me. For me, being creative is the way of living. I love to paint, to write, but I feel the need to be creative even with the food I’m cooking or in the way I dress.  I charge my batteries in solitude, I need to spend time with myself in order to think, to settle and find new ideas. This is the hygiene of mind and soul for me. Swimming and spending time outside, in nature, also helps me to recharge and to feel more at ease.

What does the connection between manufacturing tradition and contemporary design mean to you?

For me, contemporary design means the freedom to express emotions and creativity through jewelry and the manufacturing tradition allows me to make it happen, it gives me the means to tame metals and stones and transform it into what I imagine.  There is so much beauty in using the old ways to create something new and it’s a gift we should really appreciate – the fact that we have access to this collective knowledge of manufacturing tradition. All these techniques that we use exist because they were collected by so many people in years and years of working and experimenting. And the process of manufacturing creates an intimate connection with every piece of jewelry, giving it life, energy, soul, personality, that sensitive human touch that can’t be replaced by machines.  Even if it's way harder than using modern technology and you cut and burn your hands from time to time, the process of handcrafting jewelry is beautiful and fulfilling. 

Is there a self-portrait piece that speaks most about you?

A Game of Highs and Lows ring is a piece that speaks about me and my life, with its highs and lows. It’s a ring that has cracks and scars, but these things give it force and personality. And in the gaps that I’ve created, I’ve inserted some pipes that symbolize opportunities and changes that arise in every loss. There is this thing I truly believe:  when we lose something, we win something instead.  

Which material have you not yet used is a temptation and a challenge for you?

Glass – I found a Japanese designer that makes wonderful jewelry out of glass, and it triggered my curiosity.

 How do you see the future of contemporary jewelry?

I hope it won’t be governed by AI. No matter how I see the future, it does not exist, it’s just a projection, an illusion. All we have is now, this is my reminder for you all and it comes with every piece of jewelry that I make. 

Find more about the designer  Bianca Badescu