Viktoria creates jewelry.

year of birth: 1985

place of birth: near Leipzig, Germany

current residence: Antwerp

started in 2013 when she began her studies in the jewelry department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, set up her own label in January 2019

Where did it all begin?

I was living in London and working in the embroidery department of a high-end fashion company when I realized that I needed a fresh start, or I would get a burn-out. I felt embroidery was quite similar to jewelry, both require detailed work on a smaller scale. So it made total sense to try it. I enrolled for a weekend course in jewelry and was very intrigued and hooked by the craft. Working with your hands is quite healing and meditating.

What is the worst advice you’ve heard?

I think advice is never bad as most of the times the person giving it means well. But I always keep in mind what their background and life experience is. That helps me to know if the advice is helpful for me in my current situation. I think it is always good to ask for advice.

Most beautiful moment during the creative process?

I enjoy mastering a technique and feeling the material. That moment when you are able to manipulate the material because you understand it well. Or when I find a beautiful shape or texture to work with. For the last collection I worked a lot with the lost wax technique, sculpting from hard wax blocks that are later casted in metal. It is often a trial and error process.

What doesn’t inspire you?

At the moment pearls in jewelry because they became too popular. You can see them everywhere now.

What are you proud of?

It makes me proud to see people wearing my jewelry pieces and making them their own, combining them with their outfits, creating their own routines with them. And it makes me even more happy if they tell me they get compliments from other people.

Who would you like to meet or who would you like to work with?

I would have liked to have met Azzedine Alaïa. He was such a great master in his field: a true couturier and totally obsessed with finding the perfect shape. I went to an expo about him in Paris and was very impressed. 

Maybe working with Hanna Hansdotter, a Swedish artist working with glass. She makes insanely colorful and textured vessels and objects. 

Favorite material?

Precious metals, mainly gold and silver.

What would you have done, if not this?

I don’t want to think about an alternative, this is what I love. Only if I was failing with my business would I start to think about a plan B. But even then, I would probably still make pieces in my free time. (laughs)

When was your biggest moment of doubt?

Being self-employed with a business, doubt comes in waves. Some days everything goes well, other times everything goes wrong and you almost want to give up or you feel stressed about the situation. In those moments you have to be strong and try to find solutions. You have to be resilient. I’m getting better at learning this. (laughs)

Who is your biggest supporter?

My Japanese boyfriend Tomo, my family and my lovely friends and fellow companions who are mainly also creatives and know about the difficulties and challenges.

Favorite image?

I like ‘Sunbather’ by David Hockney (1966). Especially the way he depicts the water in the pool and his sense of colour.

What is to you, the most beautiful sentence?

For me, it’s more a word: “shoganai”. It’s Japanese and means something like “let it go and move on”. It is also a philosophy or attitude: don’t waste energy on things that already happened and can’t be controlled anymore. Good to keep in mind if you’re a perfectionist like me. 

What do you still want to do?

Collaborate with artists and designers from different fields like fashion, interior and photography. It is always enriching!

I also want to improve and widen my making skills. Jewelry is such a wide field with so many specialized techniques. 

At the moment I’m following a stone setting class. Maybe taking some pottery lessons in the future.

Where do you work?

At Haptic House.

Want to see more of Viktoria’s work?

Website 

Instagram

 

Packshots and portait taken by Frederic Uyttenhove, photos with model by Sarah Stone.