About Space and Identity is a visualisation of European cultural memory within the field of jewellery and objects. It deals with the rooms, areas, zones and districts of European history.
Within the project, five points of view were developed: Vergessen, Prägung, Abgrund, Abbild and Hoffnung. They not only show the plurality of the cultural memory but also visualise the European struggle between unity and diversity. Furthermore, they illustrate the various facets of the continent’s history. In relation to each of these five points of view, I created a work that expresses ideas related to important places in Europe.

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Vergessen is a series of brooch-like objects that deals with lost places. The created objects, made of hand-carved marble, show buildings as if covered by a shroud. All the pieces of this series have a brooch needle on the back, which refers to orders or medals that people once received for conquering and destroying foreign cultures. However, the brooches shown here can never be worn because they are intentionally too heavy.

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Prägung is a pendant-like object that symbolises the role of the church in European history. The external material of the object created here is fine silver, which thus reflects (historically) the splendour and glory of the Roman Catholic Church. Fine silver is pure and fragile. In contrast, the interior of the object is filled with cast lead – an apparent contradiction and contamination. The object is far too heavy to ever be worn. To further emphasise its non-wearability, the chain was made without a clasp and is too short to fit around the head. The number of chain rings refers to the number of beads in a rosary.

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Abgrund is about burnt places. For visualisation, I used the shape of a classic serving tray. The material is intentionally ignoble. The created place on the tray does not show itself directly but through fine wires that are directed upwards in small groups. They trace the outline of the original place. Their appearance is aggressive. Both the plate and the wires presented on it have been strongly deformed during the manufacturing process and thus visualise the destruction that can be felt in this place.

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‍Abbild is about governmental buildings in Europe. I used outlines of the floor plans of the buildings to design various frame-shaped rings that frame the fingers of the potential wearer. This refers to the fact that in today’s Europe, where most countries are democracies, people decide who sits inside of these governmental buildings. Nevertheless, wearing these rings is very uncomfortable and underlines the fact that filling the buildings can be a troublesome decision.
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In Hoffnung, the final part of the work, I dealt with places that are a symbol for the creation of freedom, peace and unity. For the sake of hope, it did not make sense to take just one place; this is why a group of objects forms the artwork here. All pieces are made of porcelain. The insides are glazed, while the outsides are not – a deliberate contradiction and simultaneously an expressive metaphor.

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Years: 2019–2021

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