March 12, 2015 (Thursday) – Helen Britton and Yutaka Minegishi

For our 2^nd day in Munich, Germany, we visited the studio of the well-known Australian jeweller, Helen Britton along with David Bielander, who we met yesterday at the Munich Jewellery Fair. I very much like Helen’s way of collecting things through material and work archives, which serves as a form of recording and a source of inspirations. Her pieces are mostly ornamented and colourful, and one could easily associate her interest in costume jewellery as they are often made up of units strung on jump rings.

Helen Britton, Bracelet, 2014. Silver, paint

(Photo Courtesy of Sienna Patti, http://www.siennapatti.com/project/helen-britton/)

Japanese artists and designers really have a way with their hands. A lot of them are very skilful, and one of them is the Munich-based artist Yutaka Minegishi, who also shares the studio with Helen and David. Somehow, he reminds me of our lecturer and Australian silversmith, Oliver Smith because they both make their own tools. Yutaka, however, often makes small sculptural pieces for he admits to have a weakness for tiny objects. He collects these along with exotic art and antiques, and also uses unusual materials  in his work such as mammoth tusk, jet, and pink ivory wood. He claimed that by collecting and by making, he learns and improves.

Yutaka Minigeshi, Rings

(Photo Courtesy of Gallery Funaki Pinterest, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/100205160432433038/)

I love the simplicity of his pieces especially the rings carved from jet. For him, the removal of the material both reveals the material and forms the structure. His process of making without thinking makes me think about what I am making. This may sound a bit confusing but simply put, we are opposites.- He starts without thinking about the idea first while I can’t seem to start without planning. Although he said that no matter how exciting it is and no matter how unique his works turn out to be, there is still a lot of material wasted because of the trial and error. However, this made me realize that sometimes it is good to loosen things up a bit, and just go with the flow so I won’t get stuck with my projects for too long. After all, not everything could be predicted. Perhaps, if I do this, I could produce up to 100 works per year like Helen does.