Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of visiting a jewellery and ceramic art exhibition hosted by Gioia Clavenzani from JAD (Jewellery Art Design) and Robbie Mazzaro from Ro Art Ceramics at the Auberge de France in Vittoriosa.
I was immediately greeted by Gioia and Robbie who walked me through their works and gave me an in-depth explanation on the methods and materials they use to make their incredible creations.
JAD Jewellery Art Design
JAD is the brain-child of Gioia Clavenzani and Ivano Ghianelli who share a common love for jewellery, design and contemporary art. Gioia is a psychologist by profession while Ivano is a goldsmith. They opened their first studio in a small, quiet town between Umbria and Tuscany in 2011 and continued to focus of creating beautiful jewellery pieces when they moved to Malta in 2015.
JAD is home to very unique, creative jewellery pieces that are easy to wear and incorporate with different outfits. The pieces are mainly inspired by the Maltese Islands with a strong presence of the materials they are crafted from. The pieces also exhibit touches of contemporary art and Italian design using old, traditional, artisan methods and tools.
The more contemporary pieces are mostly inspired by other artists' work such as this gorgeous piece which is inspired by the work of Spanish artist Augustin Ibarrola and this unique piece inspired by the works of Japanese sculptor Kengiro Azuma.
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Left: JAD Jewellery
Top Right: Augustin Ibarrola | Bottom, one of the artist's many works (latter two pictures from Google) |
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L to R: JAD Jewellery | Kengiro Azuma posing with one of his works | The sculpture that inspired the jewellery creation
(latter two pictures from Google) |
Recently, JAD created a jewellery collection especially for Rosita Silk Sense for her fashion show during the final night of Miss World Malta. The concept of this collection revolves around three aspects - geometry, the Mediterranean and the ancient Japanese art of Shibori which Rosita uses to paint patterns on her silk creations.
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JAD at Miss World Malta 2017 for Rosita Silk Sense
models' photos by Mario Galea Photography |
When asked which materials are her favourite to work with, Gioia answered 'silver' without hesitation
as it allows for a better work experience and is less costly than gold. She goes on to say that she also likes working with metal wire and precious stones other than the classical ones, such as rutilated quartz and tourmaline which are, again, less costly.
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| An array of necklaces executed through different techniques |
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More examples of exquisite jewellery by JAD.
The middle piece features rutilated quartz - no two stones look alike, hence each piece is unique! |
JAD also produce some colourful pieces such as cotton and silver neckalces and other metal wire pieces such as the ones in the photos below.
I think JAD makes some very beautiful jewellery which appeals to my style and I predict it won't be long until I add a piece or two to my own collection!
Ro Art Ceramics
The other artist exhibiting her work with JAD's is Robbie Mazzaro from Ro Art Ceramics. Robbie is originally from Venezuela, has spent most of her life in Italy and moved to Malta four years ago. She started making ceramic art after she attended a masterclass in Rome in 2012. Robbie is widely inspired by nature which is easy to see in her work. She is fascinated by the complex and beautiful natural structures and textures found in plants, bark, seed pods, corals and shells. Robbie emphasizes that she loves contrast, such as the rough texture, colour of the clay and the glossy colors and often maintain the clay's original colours and textures to represent this natural form within her work.
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| 'A Drop in The Rough Sea' is one of mt favourite creations from Ro Art Ceramics |
She also states that she doesn't like very precise work and makes sure none of her pieces look exactly the same. I think my favourite collection from her is the Sea Breeze collection which mainly features ceramic bowls.
Robbie makes small works of art intended for decorative purposes as well as bigger decorations. She doesn't use the conventional pottery wheel but reverts to coils to create her impressive works which would look good in any house! She also likes to incorporate ropes in her designs and of course experiments with different techniques such as molten glass.
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| Volcano Bowl on top, Sea Breeze Bowl at the bottom - two excellent examples of coil pottery |
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| The use of ropes in some of Robbie's designs |
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| An example of the use of molten glass and ceramic |
The exhibition will be open until the 22nd of July at the Auberge de France in Triq Hilda Tabone, Vittoriosa. Opening times are Tues - Thurs from 10am till 5pm ; Fri - Sat from 10am till 7pm
