Emanuela Aureli
"I am an object maker. I work out of need to give shape to my feelings and ground them in matter. Metal inspires my work as a material--solid, hard, sometimes heavy, yet so soft, flowing into liquid, melting into a new form."
Born in Italy and raised in Germany, Emanuela Aureli blends Italian goldsmithing traditions with northern European design, making jewelry for the body to wear. Inspiration comes from simple shapes, the making process, urban and industrial landscapes, and from the quiet expanse of the high desert. Her jewelry invites the wearer to engage in playful interactions with the piece, teasing, daring.
Working mostly in sterling silver and copper, Aureli fabricates geometric, minimal shapes--cubes, spheres, strips of metal and coils of wire--that become earrings, rings, pendants, or brooches. She heat-colors her jewelry into yellows, oranges, deep reds, blacks, and silver finishes, infusing the metal with warmth and making it irresistible to touch.
Mostly self-taught, she started making jewelry as a teenager, creating her pieces with a pair of pliers, brass wire, beads, and feathers, and selling her work at flea markets, concerts, and street fairs throughout Europe. Her teachers were her many mistakes, the people in the streets, and all the fellow artisans she was lucky to meet. She apprenticed with goldsmiths in Italy and the U.S., and holds a B.F.A. from CCAC (now CCA) in Oakland, CA.
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