Lydia and How Everything Miraculously Fell into Place

All in all, 43 different jewelry creations worn by 43 different people were photographed within the framework of our Who Wears My Art? art photography initiative during the Jewelry Days in Munich. In hindsight, the fact that this initiative went so well, that so many interesting personalities participated, and that each of them eventually found “their” piece of jewelry, seems like a miracle. But a miracle seldom happens by itself – people usually have a hand in it. In our case, these people included the photographer Miriam Künzli to begin with, who, calm and relaxed, stuck to the tight schedule. My colleague Paulina Tsvetanova – usually responsible for marketing and communications – welcomed the participants, spread a good mood, selected, if necessary, a suitable outfit for the participants, powdered their faces and assisted in photographing them.

We owe it to Otto Künzli, Matthias Mönnich and Jiro Kamata that this initiative could be implemented at all. They generously made their rooms at the academy available to us for three days. Thank you very much for this! The Marzee and Ra galleries in the Netherlands also played an important part in the initiative’s success. Thank you, Marie-José van den Hout and Paul Derrez. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the Isabella Hund, the Biro and the tal20 galleries in Munich, as well as to the Rosemarie Jäger gallery in Hochheim and Anna Pirk from Rottach-Egern. They all sent us their sometimes very valuable creations in due time, without any qualms, and also supported the initiative financially. Our thanks also go to the individual artists involved.

And last but not least, it was Lydia Gasthroph who played a decisive role in our initiative’s success. She studied under Hermann Jünger at the academy’s Jewelry and Utensils department. In addition to creating jewelry, she is now also exploring new paths as an undertaker with her weiss – über den Tod hinaus (white – beyond death) company. Lydia Gastroph turned out to be a resourceful networker, who won over many personalities from Munich’s cultural scene for this project and took care of them during its entire duration. With a lot of practical help and sensitivity during the three days, she decisively contributed to everything falling miraculously into place. Below, you’ll find more portraits of our Who Wears My Art? initiative. The “grand finale” will follow on Wednesday.

“I love enamel work and I appreciate Tabea Reulecke’s approach to use enameling as a way to materialize drawings in jewellery. The narrative of this piece struck me, it was as if she had captured the history of one of my cats who gently chased mice and then offered them alive and without injuries to me. How many times I have been chasing mice in my kitchen, brought in by
her…” Liesbeth den Besten, Amsterdam, art historician, author, lecturer

“This piece has a filigreed quality that I like very much. The materials are relatively unusual for jewelry, and this is exactly what suits me. My grandmother was a gold- and silversmith. I like the materials, more silver than gold. But I wasn’t aware of the fact that this kind of contemporary art jewelry exists.” Gilbert von Sohlern, Munich, actor (this year at the Salzburg Festival, otherwise for TV)

“This brooch is a captivating example of reified sensuousness and freedom. It also features an exciting contrast between its reference to nature and artificiality.” Elka Jordanow, Munich, gallerist

“I wouldn’t have thought that jewelry can express emotions like this. My spontaneous impression of this brooch was: it’s fragile yet powerful, gentle, modifiable and vulnerable like dragonfly or fairy wings – the state of my soul after a severe personal loss.” Tina Feder, Munich, singer and performance artist

“I usually wear rather purist jewelry in my everyday life. Doerthe Fuchs’s necklace made me discover an entirely new facet of my personality.” Katharina Schmitz, Munich, pharmacist

“The first thing that appealed to me were the different shades of gray representing the intermediate state between day and night. This is my favorite time. And then there is the picture within the picture, the vase with the flowers in the rectangular frame, and the fact that this is not it, but that it’s surrounded by another form.” Ulrich Loschky, Munich, conductor

“I spontaneously like the clear-cut shape and deep color of gold. I studied here at the academy and always enjoyed attending the jewelry class. I like jewelry, but am very picky, and there are only few pieces that I can imagine to actually wear.” Christiane Fleissner, Munich, sculptor and photographer

“This brooch represents an entirely new concept in Babette von Dohnanyi’s jewelry. It reminds me of the crises in our day and age: a revolver as a piece of jewelry that conveys a political message. With its intense colors, the brooch is a wonderful object on the wearer’s body.” Dirk Allgaier, Stuttgart, publisher

“What appeals to me is the architectural look combined with an incredibly lightweight quality, as well as the contrast between the austere shape and the material’s soft and smooth haptic feel.” Clemens Brosinsky, Nuremberg, art student specializing in gold- and silversmithing

“I immediately perceived each of the dark pearls as a symbol of a world in itself, of an individual little existence. The golden circle represents light and hope, and indicates that I can live with pain. For me, the dark pearl stands for the pain I have experienced in my life.” Nicole Rinder, undertaker and grief counselor

Text and interviews Reinhold Ludwig

Photos Miriam Künzli

English translation Sabine Goodman