Graduated from Royal College of Art
Selected by Amanda Fielding
Brooch for a chair, 2005
The museum-like environment that Chrysanthe Staikopoulou had created for her work immediately drew me in: found furniture, an old mirror and a wall-mounted vitrine. Inside the case was a curious collection of objects, including a tiny gold spoon 'for Sir John Soane' accompanied by a folded piece of paper in a box, a bangle that looked as if it had been made from an old grater and a ring adorned with a nutmeg. Another bangle looked at first glance as if it too had been fashioned from a grater, but closer inspection revealed the freshness and finesse of material worked for the first time. Here was a jeweller clearly enjoying the interplay between fiction and reality.
There was also more to the chair and mirror than first met the eye: the damaged cane seat had been 'repaired' by a gold brooch, while the mirror frame 'wore' a jewel of its own. Further scrutiny of the space disclosed a ring in a wall socket.
Much of Staikopoulou's jewellery responds to architecture, occupying 'niches found in buildings, architectonic elements, furniture and objects'. In a recent project she made a group of ornaments to be 'shared between the occupants of the house and the house itself, mediating between architecture and the body'.
(Amanda Fielding, 2006)
Qualifications and training
- 2006 MA Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery, Royal College of Art
- 2002 Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture, University College London
- 1999 Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, London South Bank University
Web links - gallery/work/projects
Personal website
