Mindf*ck 2
by Isabella van den Bos
Forget everything you know about (semi-) precious stones. Ignasi Cavaller (alumnus Fachhochschule Trier, campus Idar-Oberstein) makes magic: what you see is not what you get…
We’re in Galerie tal20 (Schmuck 2016, Munich) looking at wafer-thin red tube earrings. It’s a mindf*ck. These earrings are made from reconstructed coral. This legendary material, this incomparable red color forced in an austere design. It’s lightweight, not the branches with the chunky look and feel you immediately envision in your minds eye. This is coral 3.0. Cavaller doesn’t stop there. Give him a piece agate and he conjures a brooch with two thin translucent intertwining circles. Cavaller strips down stereotype features and gives (semi-) precious stones new meaning. The jewellery department at Idar Oberstein is, under tutelage from Theo Smeets, re-inventing Idar’s long-standing heritage in working with gemstones. Cavaller added his own take to this tradition. He pays homage to his birthplace Menorca, part of the Spanish Balearic Islands, with his ingenious use of olivewood. And now he is teaching at the jewellery department of the art academy in Cairo, Egypt. One can only imagine how his next project will transform traditions… Cavaller gave us a sneak peak and it involves mother of pearl. Of course: when in Egypt…
