Martina Obid Mlakar (Slovenian Jewelry Week)
MARTINA OBID MLAKAR
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Designer biography:
The work of designer and restorer Martina Obid Mlakar is a gold and silversmithing craft interlaced with modern materials and technologies; she seeks answers about the role and meaning of jewelry – who or what could wear a piece of jewelry and how. The design is a successful dialog between material, shape and story. She also pursues interests in the art of sculpture, graphics and video.
She held several solo exhibitions and participated in many others, in Slovenia and abroad.
Her works were accepted into the collection of the Museum of Architecture and Design Slovenia and into the International Collection of Contemporary Jewellery in Legnica, Poland.
Her designs have been selected and published in books and received praise from international juries. In 2022 her The Pillow of Touches brooch received an Honourable Mention of the Director of the Gallery of Art in Legnica, the 30th International Jewellery Competition TOUCH. In 2021 the Feeling free Collection received the Made in Slovenia mark of excellence from Center for Creativity, Museum of Architecture and Design Slovenia. In 2019 the Animal Farm Collection received Recognition Award from the Designers Society of Slovenia and her work the crown received Special Mention from the Jury of Gioielli in Fermento, Contemporary Studio Jewellery International Award, Italy.
Collection concept:
The TOUCH & HUG Collection
Martina Obid Mlakar has been exploring the meaning of human palm as a symbol of friendship and balance for a long time. The palm that gives and receives, touches a person, a fellow human being, touches nature – like an eternal trace left behind by touch. This is partly why birds fly out of metal palms and palms grow from the pillow made out reflective textile. In this way, we recognise the meaning and beauty of touch, which is formed by coexistence. Touch is important.
A hug is the most beautiful form of human touch. It is the perfect way to reach out to another being. It can communicate love, comfort, forgiveness, support, encouragement, empathy and a thousand other emotions. It can say all that in a way that feels uniquely human and universal at the same time.
The Hug Necklace features two hands coming together in a hug. The hands are made out of reflective material – a continuation of my previous exploration of the Touch series. The material is chosen not only to draw attention, but to symbolize the reflective power of the human touch. It never just goes one way; it is always reflected back at the giver. The touch is a two-way communication, an exchange of emotion in just one act, in a single moment.
Marina Obid Mlakar, Feeling free, Titanium, 2023