Jana Mršnik (Slovenian Jewelry Week)
JANA MRŠNIK
Designer biography:
Jana Mršnik is a freelance designer and pedagogue, active in the field of textile-product design and textile art. She is an assistant professor at Faculty of Design, and assistant at the Faculty of natural Sciences and Engineering. Graduated at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering in Ljubljana, she made postgraduate studies in Ljubljana, Copenhagen and Florence, where she actively worked as a knitwear designer at Italian fashion companies. She is a receiver of national and international awards; in last years three of her products received the Made in Slovenia mark of excellence from Centre for Creativity. She has her own small brand BelaBela and regularly exhibits her products at national and international design events, such as Blickfang international design fair in Vienna and Stuttgart. In 2019, she was invited by Viennese curator to design her first jewelry pieces, which were exhibited in the V&V gallery in Vienna. Since then, she supplements her collections with new pieces, always combining textile yarns with other materials, mostly wood. She explores a DIY culture, and manual work as a supplement to industrial production.
Collection concept:
Hand-embroidered wooden jewelry
The inspiration for the collections is microscopic images of microorganisms and cells, interpreted through two complementary materials – a solid wooden base and a subtle textile thread. Moments of cell joining and division are reflected through various embroidery techniques. Light contrasts create shimmering effects that seem to change depending on the viewing position, creating a sense of movement and liveliness on the surface.
The collections intertwine a serial/industrial production and modern technologies with uniqueness, intimacy and meditativeness of manual work. Individual products are equipped with additional thread, spare parts, and instructions for repairing, changing, or adding user’s own embroidery to existing product.
Mrsnik Jana, Bubble, brooch, textile Thread wood, 2022