Spot the Designer - Horia Caltea/ Romania
What did you want to be when you were a child?
Weirdly, but with honesty, when I was a child I wished to become either a dustman or a taxi driver. The dustman idea came from a unique simple interaction, to which I assisted, where my mother handed money to dustmen on Christmas day. I saw this as something convenient in my childhood era. This tradition still lives to this day in Romania. As for the taxi driver job, I saw it as an opportunity to meet and converse with a vast diversity of patterns of people, while driving around, which sounded pretty interesting.
When have you started creating jewelry? How did this passion come about?
Probably it began during my childhood, but it became more serious in the dental laboratory, in the after hours. Fascinated by the multiple possibilities of processing, using the laboratory equipment. Later on, when I stumbled across it again, it started to be my full time job, around 2015.
What was your first project or significant piece for you and from what point of view?
My first significant piece for me, from a personal point of view, not because of its complexity and used techniques, was a hazelnut turned into a cage, a pendant. Inside, there is a beggar man. At the time, I don’t know why, I considered it a “self portrait”, if I can cite a term borrowed from the visual arts.
How do you charge your batteries? What other passions and creative interests do you have?
I’m always admiring nature, I’m attentive to it. My most important hobby is off-road motorcycle rides. This combines nature with adrenaline, taking me to the most beautiful, quiet and wild places.
What does the connection between manufacturing tradition and contemporary design mean to you?
It means that nothing can exist without a tight link to the past. Contemporary jewelry would not be able to exist without traditional manufacturing. I myself am a traditionalist, in working techniques and design, because of which I hardly adapt to contemporary jewelry tendencies.
Is there a self-portrait piece that speaks most about you?
As mentioned before, my most significant piece is also a self-portrait of myself during the time when the jewel was “brought to life”.
Which material have you not yet used is a temptation and a challenge for you?
Steel in combination with gold.
How was the pandemic period for you as a jewelry designer?
Materially speaking it was not so good, whilst inspirationally I took it as a sedimentation period, and the clarification of many inside thoughts and ideas. Whatever it was, I am happy that I managed to overcome that certain period, in which I am sure everybody had their ups and downs.
How do you see the future of contemporary jewelry?
Considering that in this day and age everything changes so fast, I have no idea what to expect. I cannot imagine, due to the fact that the diversity of this domain is enormous, whilst an artistic current is a tendency, a style of art, with a common philosophy, followed by artists in a certain period of time. For me personally this is not clearly defined in contemporary jewelry.
Find more about the designer Horia Caltea