FOLDS and FLUIDS by OSCAR ABBA

To me these pieces feel incredibly free. They are free-flowing, fluid, their forms are not restricted by formality and regularity. They are irregular from the thickness of the metal to the way in which the folds fall and form the overall shape. In appearance they do not conform to the strictures of geometry and symmetry so heavily weighted in jewellery in the common round. This work transcends the urbanity of the perfectly round, the perfectly straight edge.


Silver is of course to me a precious substance, at an average of R13/g, it is not cheap to purchase. But it’s colour and its nature, as a soft, clean (here I mean that it can be smoothed very easily with file or sand-paper), malleable, ductile metal, make it just as precious. The clear, cool, glow of Abba’s silver, meticulously smoothed and clean, but not highly polished give these pieces a soft look as though they might be made of satin or silk or velvet, something heavy, soft and warm. The irony lies in that these pieces, though indeed heavy, are hard and would be cool to the touch until they absorb the heat of the body. And these pieces are made to be worn. His Folds 2011 bracelet has, to demonstrate that its purpose is to be worn, an intricate and beautifully crafted clasp system nested and hidden within it. A clasp which when the piece is seen from the outside, on an arm for example, would not interrupt the fluid flow of the design.