What was the first piece of jewellery you made?

During my childhood, I was not interested in making jewellery. Instead, I drew and cut out lots of paper dolls and lots of clothes for them.

My interest in jewellery was induced by my mother when I was twenty. We visited a couple of her friends in Germany, who worked at a design school. We saw the graduate show where the students had used all kinds of materials from lacquered dog biscuits assembled to royal crowns and necklaces made of cleaning sponges. This was a whole new world to me. I saw that jewellery could be many things. Once back from Germany, I was excited and couldn’t wait to get started. I made my first piece of jewellery in my father’s basement workshop where I was busy with soldering brass, drill, file, and saw. The result was a large and fairly bulky brass finger ring with wire wrapped round it.

I’ve always loved the smell of hot metal. At school, my favourite subject was metalwork. I produced countless ashtrays and candlesticks. Working with a saw and a file and a Bunsen burner with a huge flame was my idea of happiness. On hindsight, I’ve been exploring and playing with techniques and materials long before I knew I was going to design jewellery.

My approach to the craft has been to challenge the conventional use and wearing of jewellery. It’s all about sensualising a body part by making the person wearing the jewellery aware of it. Like some of my hand jewellery, for example; because they slightly interfere with the wearer´s gestures and draw attention to the hand – they will in turn, naturally make the person wearing it move more gracefully. Another example is the ankle – by framing it, it becomes sexy rather than just being a small funny bone on the sideJacqueline Cvib of the foot. It’s fascinating to emphasise the body’s oddities as well as its natural lines. A silver thread accentuating parts of an ear or a symmetrical play with its curves and shapes.