Krama (Greece)
KRAMA - GREECE
Collective:
KRAMA was founded by Poly Nikolopoulou and Yiannis Sioti in 2014. It operated until today as a school of contemporary jewelry. The students' works have participated in many exhibitions in Greece and abroad. Krama will continue its course by organizing exhibitions around the world with new projects.
Concept: “Tradition”
Four artists from Greece communicate through their work how they perceive tradition today. Is it passed from hand to hand, does it leave elements we don't even know, does it grow among us like a root, is it transformed or does it remain the same?
~The project is curated by Poly Nikolopoulou
Penny Kostoula
PennyKostoula_Vase_Through the cracks_2024_alabaster_loomFabric_22x10
Penny Kostoula is from Athens, Greece. She is a dental technologist with a passion for creation and jewelry making. After finishing her studies at Krama institute for contemporary Jewelry in Athens, she followed her dream in Florence as a part of the Alchimia contemporary jewelry school. In her pieces you always notice the presence of her origin and the element of nostalgia. She loves the classic jewelry techniques and always focuses on every detail. However, in recent years she has been experimenting with new materials and techniques outside of the jewelry field as a way to express herself.
Tradition
By illuminating the invisible threads that connect us to our past, this work invites viewers to reflect on the enduring impact of cultural heritage. It emphasizes how, despite our focus on the present and future, the unconscious influence of our heritage continues to shape our identities and perceptions in profound ways. This project seeks to remind us that our roots, though often overlooked, remain a fundamental part of who we are.
PennyKostoula_Brooch_The connecting link_Alabaster_LoomFabric_Gold_2024_12x7
PennyKostoula_necklaceModel2_the connecting link_alabaster_LoomFabric_2024_27X30
Mado Xanthouli
Mado Xanthouli was born in Athens 1993. She received her MA in Architecture from the University Of Thessaly (UTH, 2018). She first got in touch with jewelry making in 2015 as Erasmus student at Istanbul Technical Universitesi (ITU). The following years she attended making courses at Metallo studio (Athens) and contemporary jewelry courses at Krama Institute (Athens). She is currently living in Athens, working as an architect while she remains involved in contemporary jewelry. Her work shows her interest in small-scale design, experimentation with materials, as well as the relationship of objects with the body-user. She treats jewelry as wearable objects that materiality, scale, and interaction with the body can form different stories and senses.
Tradition
I perceive tradition as a transmission from generation to generation, passed down from hand to hand. Each transfer from one person to another involves interpretation and selection; each individual leaves their mark on what the next person receives.
MadoXanthouli_handpiece_traces_2024_copper_9,5x2,5 cm
Stefania Sioufa
Stefania Sioufa was born in Athens, Greece. Her studies at “Le Arti Orafe” Goldsmith School in Florence and “Krama School of Contemporary Jewelry” in Athens have helped her harness her imagination and the inspiration that came along with it. She learned how to work on thematic projects using different materials and techniques as well as how to adopt the appropriate methodologies in order to “give birth” to her ideas and deliver the desired results. She is inspired by nature and its organic materials. What nature offers cannot be made by human hands. She uses different organic materials and she likes combining them with materials such as metal, pigments and resins, which are giving as sense of movement to these elements. She is trying to imbue the colors of nature into them by using hagiographic powders with gradations, forms and textures. In this whole process the magic lies beneath the completion of every creation. Through her creations she wants people to recognize a part of her soul. Behind the rough, non-treated surfaces lies an emotional side full of warmth and dynamism. Her jewels are made to create an interactive channel with the people who choose to wear them while they are left free to give their interpretation and make their own aesthetic statements.
Tradition
Carrying the memories, the stories, the images of my grandmothers and grandfathers, the childhood experiences I lived with them, they become stories of my family's tradition. The intricate handmade doilies of my grandmother symbolize the connection with place and time. They unite events and memories of a female universe that was once characterized as absolute housekeeping. With the contemporary element of that era in mind, I created these pieces of jewelry that incorporate elements of tradition and connect the past with the future.
StefaniaSioufa_neclace_purity_paper, linen, resin, oxidised silver_2015_17x1,5cm
Poly Nikolopoulou
Poly Nikolopoulou was born in Athens ,Greece. Her educational journey began with the study of Graphic design at Vacalo University. After she continued her studies in jewelry Design and Metalsmithing at Alchimia School in Florence. She was Tutored by Manfred Bischoff and attended workshops by Peter Scubic and Iris Eichenberg. She has participated in various jewelry exhibitions in galleries around the world such as Atta, Putti, Paris, Mangold, Velvet da Vinci, Ilias Lalaounis Museum, Belgrade Museum e.t.c.During 2012 and 2014 she was teaching at Chalkis Jewelry school-Eric Robert. From 2014 until now she was co-founder and instructor of karma.
Her work is a way of communicate with the people and herself… When she is making a piece, it is very important the process, the feelings that she is experimenting at the moment and all the energy that those are reflecting in each object; the mistake of the moment, is something that she enjoys and supports from her work. She prefers to use hard materials like silver, playing with the hammer and with the fire, obtaining as an outcome shapes and colors that make them alive… sometimes in an abstract way or another in figurative form.
Tradition
Blooming Roots"/body piece
I like tradition as a root. Which is there from the time we are born as a base!But how do you develop this root? May we water it too much and it rots, or maybe forget it and it dries up or we can take care of it with love and freedom so that it can flourish in today and now.~ tradition / root how much it has in common with the family ~
PolyNikolopoulou_bodypiece_fabric,semedaki (traditional greek element)_2024_1,34mx18cm
PolyNikolopoulou_object_Fairytale_silver_2024_7x11cm