Vivi, why did you choose jewelry as a means of communication?
Because of the privacy between jewelry and the wearer. Because jewelry can be worn with joy and detachment, and when they go into the hands of those who have chosen and will wear them, they will acquire a new life, and be part of their own story.
How do the pieces you create reach "consumers"?
I like the challenge of a design based on an idea or that of an unusual topic. These sometimes come from people who want a custom made piece. I make a lot of sketches before deciding on a design to translate into silver. Sometimes the sketch executed in drawing can undergo slight transformations because during the work process the substance dictates and helps establish the final design. The item becomes complete when it is worn on the body of its future owner and only then will it find its place.
What are your sources and themes?
Everything around me can become a source of inspiration. A texture, a rhythm, a line, a form, these are things the essence of which I am trying to capture. I think my primary source of inspiration lies in fairy tales and stories. There are a few themes and motifs I have been using since the beginning of my artistic experience and they are present in my items of jewelry even today. I acknowledge this leafing through my sketchbooks (some of them I kept from high school, some from my college time as a student at the department of ceramics) when I see how they are still there today (the memory, the mark, metamorphosis). I use figurative techniques a lot in my works. Innocent characters and things (the more innocent, the better) and I do not hide. I want to get to the essence and I enter another world where I can totally lose myself. So I find simple images I can work with, which instead of threatening me would rather be a delight and lend me a state of peace.
I like to play with these images, to invent and surprise. My goal is always to create a wearable, original and interesting piece designed to be decorative but also to reveal, upon a closer look, an unexpected or even funny identity.
How do you relate to the technical part of production? How important it is to master it today? You have an extremely well-equipped workshop :)
Techniques have been received. I approached jewelry when I joined the workshop of jewelry designer Elena Crişan, where I discovered the tools and the special atmosphere around jewelry and where I received all the technical information I needed and I was explained the steps necessary for manufacturing jewelry. After this apprenticeship, in order to cement what I had learned, I attended the courses of Professor Alexandru Lupu at Lupu Contemporary Jewelry School.
What do you think about intention, planning, execution and the product?
I like working with my hands, I like to create, to transform my thoughts and emotions into wearable objects, and I think in the end they inevitably tell a story about me, I’m a diary of my experiences. I am a “storyteller” and I like to share my stories and impressions through my jewels. They are the best way to help me communicate with the world, and I often prefer them to communicate without me talking. Their message depends to a large extent on the person who receiving it. They can make one alert or curious, or they can make one stop and wonder, depending on personal history and sensitivity.
Tell me three artists you like, who motivate you and put you to work.
I’m going to mention 4, though there would be more. Juan Miro, Manfred Bischoff, Gigi Mariani, Mirit Weinstock.
What are you working on now?
At the moment I am working and gathering information for the next items of the collection “Princess”, one originally consisting of brooches and medallions with semiprecious stones, to which I want to add necklaces, rings, maybe hair pins in the future, and obviously, I would say, I want to take their story further, to introduce new characters and elements.
Where can we see more of your pieces?
On my website, vivianatosa.ro.
