Spot the Designer - Valentina Cziko/ Romania

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

I discovered this passion purely by chance, thanks to the insistence of my good friend who, back then, sent me to Assamblage, the contemporary jewelry school. That is where I met wonderful people for whom a creative idea is a challenge and nothing is impossible to achieve. Thus with Assamblage I created the first collection that I entitled “Mask - the actual image”, inspired by the pandemic period that began in 2020 and exhibited at ROJW in the fall of that year. This is how for me, actually a juridical adviser, jewelry became my main interest and passion. All my interests are now melted in metal and set in stones, all my ideas catch a specific form in jewelry, my passion for nature, plants and birds, sailing, my curiosity towards how people react in specific situations, how I surprise myself from time to time with new reactions to same situations.

We are always changing and I try to develop myself into a better person and a better craft and technique, I try to evolve and focus on the tiny details that are making our life more beautiful and also give us a sense and a direction. We can only evolve on the base of the known values and techniques, but in time we learn how to identify our only values, that may or may not contradict the past and tradition. I try to bring with me the beauty and the good vibes of the past and purify them in modern lines.

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

Collection "Mask - the actual image" is a way of showing the roles I have in my life, the way I integrate them with my values. In this case, mask is not the cover I use to play new roles nor hide anonymously in the crowd, but rather the kind of mask that actually condenses everything I am - on the surface, visible for anyone. You can see the shapes, the colors that govern my soul and my life, the intricate and the simple, the green of hope and even the signature. The mask is the actual me, translated in metal.

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

 I am tempted by enamel, as this can bring more color in a metal piece and more color in our lives. It can stretch color on the surface, rather than set it up like a stone and this will be my next challenge, finding a way to blend the strength of the metal and the shine of the color.

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

 My collection "The Plague"" is influenced by the pandemic, showing all my emotions in regards with the suffering of the nature and it's reply to the humans' actions. Nature always stretches for balance, even if this is damaging to us.

How do you see the future of contemporary jewelry?

 I am thinking that contemporary jewelry will be an actual distillate of our values and emotions, as rough and as delicate as our interior changes and will help us wear them as a reminder of a perfect moment or as a longing, like a tear of joy or sadness. The way we
feel these emotions is so different and so nuanced and there are so many ways we can represent them in shapes in colors, hope i will always find a personal way to craft and wear them.

Find more about the designer Cziko Valentina