Spot the Designer - Diana Vasile/ Romania

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

Depended on the day you asked, and is a running pattern with me. I enjoy learning and discovering new things, I like a plethora of different things and I'm always fascinated of everything. Maybe this is the reason why my jewellery style is a bit over the top and as large and loud as it is.

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

I think it was back in 2015 when curiosity pushed me to take a tour of Assamblage school. After a discussion with the team, I fell in love and already signed off for the classes. I think it took a bit to find my style and the kind of pieces I truly enjoy creating, a lot of trial and error, but I started in small steps and that's where I'm at the moment. I enjoy every second of making happen the art pieces my brain dreams about.

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

I think I have stories for most of the jewellery I made, and I am particularly fond of each and every one of them for different reasons. I'm going to choose 2 pieces though, the first piece I created and one that is extremely dear to me. I still have them both and will keep forever in my personal collection.

I'm going to choose the first piece I created in my favourite technique, lost wax casting. I made this piece after a particularly difficult period of my life. For a bit more than a year, I couldn't create anything. I was not in the right frame of mind at the time, so I just trialled and errored techniques, just to not lose my touch. I broke so many things at that time, that I thought I'm never going to learn how to set stones the way I wanted. But, low and behold, with repetition I managed to figure it out. As such, in 2018, I managed to create the first ring from the Seasons collection: Spring. Seemed fitting since, after a very long winter where I couldn't sow any seed, Spring finally came blooming with ideas. And it came out perfectly.

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

To be honest, I charge my batteries with a lot of things, depending on what tired me in the first place :). I read, I write. I travel (where I enjoy also foraging for inspiration). I like to test paint techniques since I took up adding pigments to my jewellery. I love movies, fantasy and SF are probably my favourite genres. Love listening to music (I should never be allowed to sing). I like to spend time with my dog, he's the best at changing things up and relaxing me. I even use jewellery design to charge my batteries when I'm creating impossible things. I have a full shoebox with things that get too big or too chunky to ever be made into jewellery, but that I actually keep in case I want to take up sculpting larger pieces. I'm the kind of person who fully takes advantage of every little moment I have available and I make sure I enjoy it as much as possible.

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

Jewellery in itself is, at least for me, a tool of expression. Just like every other art form, it can have opinions, beliefs, and it can make statements. It did so, in different forms, for millennia of human evolution and we can trace back the "need" for jewellery to the dawn of human development. At some point in history, jewellery started to become more and more mainstream, but the need for individuality, for the jewellery that truly resonates with us at our core, is still present. Traditional manufacturing techniques are our greatest assets to be able to create and express our feelings forward. As a contemporary jeweller, I will always try to push the limits of their techniques to convey the story they want to tell. I do have a tendency to merge extremely traditional gemstones with rough specimens and unique textures for the metal, to imagine new shapes, mix colours and go as far as possible I possibly can with a piece.

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

I think I'm picking this one because, more likely, is the most similar to my personality. A bit too much, a statement always, colourful, constantly with a small facet you haven't seen before and loud in the right environment. It's part of the Curioser collection, a collection I started right after the Pandemic and where I allowed myself to simply create.

For me, like for some of us, blending in, doesn't feel right. There are times when we feel too tall for the moulds society carved for us, sometimes where we don't completely fill them, while others where we're not completely shaped right. But, daring to look beyond them pushes us to create our own individual shapes. One that stands straight and perfect in its colourful uniqueness. I chose to let myself get carried away by instinct in this collection.  I dared to "dream six impossible things before breakfast" and created a perfect merge between my opposing sides to showcase their contrasting facets.
Each gem demanded its own wildflower to impress the world. While playing with our notions of feminine and masculine, should or shouldn't, I carved strong metal structures in the fluid delicate shape of leaves to create large imposing flowers dedicated to protecting sharp but fragile natural gemstones. While not ideal, they chose to be perfect just as they are. Their energy is unmistakable.
Strong. Bold. Unique. Impossibly possible.  

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

I have a ton of gems I'm trying to get, so I can use them in the future. Just the other day I found a very bright almost fluorescent synthetic gem called LuAg that I'm hunting for. I have an extensive collection of gems I haven't found a place for yet, and I still manage to buy more somehow. I don't use gold that often since I make such big pieces and I'm working now on finding a way to include it in pieces in the future. If left to my devices, I can probably write a whole extensive list of materials that would be fun to at least try in the future.

How was the pandemic period for you as a jewelry designer?

Quiet, I suppose. Like I think it was for a lot of us. What I filled my time with, was a lot of research, and trial and error experiments. A bit sad about all the disconnect, but since I'm more of an introvert for me it wasn't so bad. The only thing I truly regretted was actually working with clients on custom pieces (a process I fully enjoy even if it takes a bit of time), not being able to talk to the workshop to cast new pieces. It's actually how I filled most of my shoebox with future-to-be projects.

How do you see the future of contemporary jewelry?

In my mind, it's bright and filled with wonders. I love that you can trace the unique print of each of us, that people can find others to relate to and that each and every piece always talks a bit about both the wearer and the designer. I like to see this, and I look forward to the next idea each of us brings to the table.

Find more about the designer Diana Vasile