Interview with Elwy Schutten, one of the winners of PREZIOSA YOUNG 2020

When dealing with contemporary goldsmith artists or jewellery designers, the first curiosity is to know how one has chosen ornament as the main means of expression. Why jewellery in particular and what was your training in this field?

ELWY SCHUTTEN: The skill and quality that rest in one small jewellery piece. Something that people will cherish all their live and like to keep with them at all times. A part of their identity. I was fascinated how such a small item can hold so many things and also tell them to other people. I wanted to know how to put this information into the jewellery. In addition, I use it to ask people questions.
First I studied at the goldsmithing school Vakschool Schoonhoven, thereafter I went to the art academy to study jewellery design at the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design. Both academies are in the Netherlands. At the art academy I got fascinated about identity and how/if we can “read” it.

If it is true that jewellery – and fashion in general – is a way to express our identity, then you rightly ask yourself to what extent a jewel or an item of clothing really defines who we are. Could you tell us about that?

ELWY SCHUTTEN: You choose your own jewellery and clothing, or you change them to make them perfectly fit to your identity. But how do you choose them? How do you know your identity? Or is it more what you find appealing? And is yourself who really choose them?
Identity is a mystical and formless thing. It is hard to describe it in a few words, words that don’t really fit you as a person. Through images, clothing or jewellery it is equally hard, because today you want to represent this while tomorrow, a different day, with different tasks, you would like to show your identity in a another way. Besides that, we always have items that don’t perfectly fit ourselves.
In my work and as an artist I am curious to these questions. I hope that whenever I find a sort of answer I could help people to discover their suitable jewellery piece.

What  materials and techniques do you use to realise these pieces?

ELWY SCHUTTEN: Mostly I use soapstone and silver. In my latest series I also use wood and old fabric. I chose soapstone because when you feel it, it’s really soft. You could say as soft as skin. It is similar to skin in colours too. I see skin as the place where your identity manifests itself. It is the first place where your own thoughts and feelings become visible. Then you have the layers of clothing, jewellery and accessories. The skin is something personal, visible from the outside.