Francesca Sara Stipinovich: Unpacking Design

Constanze Schreiber - Germany

Constanze Schreiber is a German goldsmith who studied in Germany and in Holland.

Since she graduated form the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam in 2004, Constanze Schreiber has exhibited her work in galleries across Europe and in the United States.

She describes her work as being “inspired by antique jewellery pieces. At this moment I focus mainly on pieces out of the 19th and early 20th century. Their beauty and power fascinate me and I am intreged [sic] by their symbolic meanings. The symbolic meanings make the pieces so powerfull [sic] for me. They had a function in their time. By saying this I think of the protective amulets or the memento mori pieces, that remainded [sic] the wearer of his or her mortality. The symbols keept [sic] their meanings through the centurys [sic]. I believe that their is a crutial trouth [sic] in the symbols and archetypes of the past that still is valid today. I see them as attempts of the human beeing [sic] to give a form to essencial [sic] themes as love, live [sic] and death. In my works I am surching [sic] for a contemorary [sic] continuation of traditional jewelley [sic] pieces.” Constanze Schreiber, 2006, Klimt02

In the words of Liesbeth den Besten, “Constanze Schreiber is fascinated by the manner in which people deal with their anxieties and fears. In her jewellery and objects she reflects upon the protecting values of jewellery as found in amulets and talismans. Universal symbols, like the anchor and skull, and rituals are the basis of her jewellery. She applies and transforms elements of traditional jewellery in her own designs. Her creations can be made from a wide range of materials, like copper, coral, leather, fur, silver, shell, acrylic, crushed car glass and soap. The materials are carefully chosen because of their inherent and symbolic qualities...(hers) is the language of contemporary craft: the artist employing her technical skills, while thinking with the freedom of the fine artist.” - Liesbeth den Besten, Netherlands, 2004, Think Tank

IMAGE 1

Constanze Schreiber
Necklace: Victoria II 2007
Copper
38 x 36 x 11 cm

Victoria II is a large necklace, hanging down to the regions of the models navel. The material it is made of is copper. The metal has been formed into a narrow strip or ribbon which has ben wound and folded repeatedly to form the shape and body of the piece. Victoria II is a life-size representation of two delicate oak boughs with leaves joined to make a wreath, but a wreath for the neck and body rather than for the head as in classical antiquity.

The length of the piece and the size of the leaves give the piece and appearance of weight both visual and actual which draws the eye along the length of the piece giving it a kind of gravity, while the angle at which the leaves are placed and their suggestion of the piece's organic inspiration give the piece a contrasting lightness. The metal of the piece in fact weighs approximately 900g. (Constaze Schreiber. Absolute Beauty)

From a distance the piece has a soft organic curvilinear appearance, while closer up the multiple wrapping which makes up the piece is contrastingly mechanical and man-made. The piece is not classically symmetrical but has a sense of being asymmetrically balanced.

The bright burnished appearance of the clean metal of the piece, the copper is not coloured in any way, gives the piece a rosy colour which, in this case is highlighted against the blue of the model's clothes and eyes.

IMAGE 2

Constanze Schreiber

Pendant: Bolislav 2009

Fur, 18ct gold, lead
8 x 4 x 3 cm

The piece Contance Schreiber titles Bolislav is a pendant. It is a relatively large, palm-sized, pendant. It is made of white fur and is the iconic shape of a classical or old-fashioned anchor. It hangs from a gold chain of delicate round links. The fur of the piece is very white and clean, it appears to be soft and gives the outline of the piece a soft look akin to the softness of a small animal or stuffed toy.

The line and shape of the piece is nevertheless clean and clear and easily legible as an anchor. The piece is classically symmetrical and regular, being mirrored across a central dividing line.The major contrasting element of the piece is between its form, that of an anchor, and the material it is made out of. The contrast is enacted on a psychological level, we interpret an anchor as being made of metal traditionally, for weight and strength, this anchor is made out of fur. Fur is very much less heavy than metal, and while metal (particularly the hardened steel of a ship's anchor) is hard and cold, fur is soft, warm, light and is something one would likely want to protect from getting wet. The twist comes in that in its makeup the pendant contains lead, giving it a deceptive weight which belies the eye.

IMAGE 3

Constanze Schreiber
Necklace: Antje 2010
Fine silver, copper, 18ct gold clasp
Length 28 cm

Contanze's piece Antje is a necklace. In this piece Constanze plays again with the contrast between appearance and reality, in terms of the actual weight of the piece and its appearance of lightness, and in terms of what it appears to be made of, and what it in fact is made of. Antje is a necklace made of fine silver, which unlike Sterling silver, has no copper in it, it is pure silver. The necklace is made up of a string of beads, pearlike in appearance, with a large and girlish bow at the bottom, tied seemingly out of a gossamer light silk ribbon. The piece is not very long, merely 28cm long, which would mean that when it is worn the ribbon would sit close to the wearer’s collar, giving the wearer an air of a Victorian woman or child.

The eye is drawn down the length of the milky pale beads by the visual weightiness given to the bow by its large size and the peachy colour of the copper which has been plated onto the silver. The pattern of repetition created by the beads, which are largely the same size as each other and lie together side by side in the string, give the mind a comfortable sense of continuity and stability which is broken by the interest and difference of the bow.

The way in which Constanze Schreiber plays with appearance and reality in this piece is through the assumed and actual earthly weight of the piece. The necklace appears to be made of a string of pearls with a silken bow attached, a piece whose physical weight would only come from the pearls, and would not be very heavy. The necklace, however, is made out of fine silver with copper plating and a gold clasp. The piece would, one can assume weigh much more than it appears to weigh. The bow of the piece would have actual as well as visual weight. This would affect the way in which it lies on the neck, hanging heavy and drawing the eye more steeply towards it making it the dominant element of the piece.