Final End | Necklace | 
Constanze Schreiber
Constanze Schreiber is a German artist jeweller who lives and works in Munich. She was trained as a goldsmith in Pforzheim, Germany before going, from 2000 to 2004, to Amsterdam to study at the Department of Jewellery Design of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Netherlands. At the intersection of Art and Design (in 2005 she won the Dutch Design Price in Eindhoven and the Talente, Design Price in Munich), her jewellery work often gives a new design but with inspirations of the past.
Fascinated by mourning jewellery from the 19th and 20th centuries, Constanze Schreiber uses in her contemporary jewels the symbols and archetypes of the past that are still valid today (scull, pearls) but with new metaphors out of today's difficulties (divorces, new start or displaced persons) she underlines the complexity of our time which could come in addition to a mourning state. Her wonderful uncommon jewels made of iron, silver, porcelain or soap bring the theme of mourning into discussion, for most people an inconvenient topic to be confronted with. In her pendants and objects Constanze Schreiber also shows that, even while being in a mourning state, a memory can create preciousness.
In her series of works "Abschiedsfest" she researched ways to deal with mourning and loss.
Exploring superstitions and rituals of the past, the result is a provocative new jewel challenging the protective aspect of traditional jewellery such as the amulets or talismans. In this respect, integrating new values into a traditional object deals with symbolic re-appropriation of object or new object meanings.
The pendant "Final End" has its roots in the history of the first steel- cut jewellery (iron and cut steel jewellery have been worn as mourning jewellery during the late 16th until the early 20th century). In traditional steel- cut jewellery, faceted steel was riveted on plates of metal, trying to imitate diamond jewellery. Experts suppose that the first pieces have been made of old horse shoe nails. The used iron must have been easier to cut.
In her piece Constanze Schreiber left the used horse shoe nails in their original condition. Cut by the movement of the horse. This X made of nails could be a sign of a personal farewell.
Website: www.constanzeschreiber.com
Past exhibition
Constanze Schreiber
"Memento Mori I"
from 01.03.2012 to 31.03.2012.
A selection of Constanze Schreiber's pieces is now available at the gallery.
