EUNIQUE Karlsruhe 2015 – Part III

You’re tired of shopping in substitutable brand stores or nerve-wracking malls? You’re looking for truly unique items that have been crafted by authentic designers? Then the International Fair for Applied Arts and Design is the right place for you. In Karlsruhe’s exhibition halls in the neighboring town of Rheinstetten, you’ll have the opportunity to experience a different way of shopping and choose what you fancy from an almost infinite variety of exquisite arts and crafts products, one-of-a-kind pieces and small series created by more than 350 artisans and designers from about 20 nations. Below you’ll find a few examples from our Showroom section that we think might inspire you.

Claudia Biehne

Leipzig, Germany / biehne-porzellan.de / Eunique Stand B.57

The porcelain studio of Claudia Biehne & Stefan Passig

Porcelain from Leipzig’s Cotton Mill – The Continent’s largest cotton mill was operated in Leipzig at the beginning of the 20th century. After deindustrialization, the premises have primarily been used for ateliers and galleries since the early 1990s. Artists like Neo Rauch numbered among the first to discover this venue’s special atmosphere. Nowadays art-loving visitors from around the world find a complete factory city that has preserved much of its character from its nascent years between 1884 and 1907. In recognition of the cotton mill’s exhibitions and open workshops, England’s The Guardian newspaper named it “the hottest place on Earth.” The temperature in the porcelain atelier that Claudia Biehne shares with her partner Stefan Passig can become quite hot indeed when she fires the delicately translucent objects in her Lumos series or her dynamically massive Vulcanoids. Born in Leipzig in 1974, Biehne loves to experiment, a character trait which ensures that every visit to her atelier will be a worthwhile experience.

Victoria Tobostai

Baden-Baden, Germany / victoria-tobostai.eu / Eunique Stand E.11

Wall sculpture, ceramics, 57 × 57 cm

Artemis Zafrana

Hanover, Germany / artemis.zafrana.com / Eunique Stand D.78

Sculptures, brass, patinated and waxed.

Brooch, silver, embossed and mounted

The surface is the theme for Artemis Zafrana. The interplay between wrought surfaces and surfaces processed to a velvety softness enlivens the large, simple and clear forms of her pieces of jewelry.“ In the sculptures, I go so far that the surface disappears,” says this artist, who was born in Istanbul and grew up in Greece. A strip “retracing” the contours gives her sculptures a light, buoyant and graceful look.

Gabriele Heinz

Karlsruhe, Germany / gabriele-heinz-schmuck.de / Eunique Stand D.30

Rings, sterling silver, fine gold, diamonds

Gisela Kulling

Bremen, Germany / gisela-kulling.de / Eunique Stand C.72

Necklace, silver patinated, freshwater pearls, stainless steel rope

All of Gisela Kulling’s pieces speak the same stylistic language, which prioritizes elegance and geometric clarity while eschewing mere fashionableness. Playful elements give a pleasant lightness to her jewelry. The pieces in this goldsmith’s Perlenseile [pearl ropes] series typify her minimalistic style: freshwater pearls combine with silver, gold-plated or patinated silver batons held by a slender and very flexibly rope of stainless steel. Thanks to its steplessly variable lengths, this youthful and decorative jewelry for the neck can be worn in diverse ways. Other pieces feature 18 karat yellow gold, white gold and platinum.

Atelier Frank

Neulingen, Germany / atelier-frank.com / Eunique Stand E.05

Ring, mokume gane technique, palladium, 750 gold, diamonds

Barbara and Stephan Frank feel like hunter-gatherers when they attentively collect and process found objects, textures, patterns, gems, precious metals, impressions and much more. They see themselves as artists during the creative development process. And they morph into meticulous craftspeople when they rely on artisanal perfection to transform their ideas into tangible reality. The results are invariably high-quality, timeless and favorite pieces for individualists. More than a few of these unconventional pieces of one-of-a-kind jewelry juxtapose classically precious materials with seemingly worthless items.