Elsa de Graef

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Designer biography:

Born in Paris in 1988 and creator ever since.

EXPOSITIONS AND AWARDS

> « Wow effect », 33ème international Jewelry competition, Legnica, Poland, 10 may 2025.

> « Amberif design Awards », Gdansk, Pologne, march 2025.

> « Baltique Amber Redéfinition »,  Bucarest, Roumania, october 2025.

> « Moreupstairsgallery », Contemporary Art Jewellery, 1000 Brussels, february 2025.

> « Baltic Amber Redefinitions », Gdansk, Poland, october/november 2024.

JEWELRY CREATIONS

Enter into matter as into life, 2024

Deployment, 2018

Folding, 2015

FORMATION

ARTS ET MÉTIERS, BRUXELLES — 2014-2024

Institut de la parure et de la bijouterie, Jeanne Toussaint, 1000 Bruxelles

LA CAMBRE BRUXELLES STYLISME — 2009-2012

LA CAMBRE BRUXELLES DESIGN TEXTILE — 2009-2010

UNIVERSITE PARIS 1 Arts plastiques — 2007-2009

LYCEE VOLTAIRE PARIS — BAC LITTERAIRE — 2003-2006

Collection concept:

Following my selection for a competition and an Erasmus+ program titled "Around Amber: Heritage and Innovation... a learning of specific techniques in jewelry," organized by the Jeanne Toussaint Institute (Arts et Métiers de Bruxelles) and carried out last March in Poland, I realized two initial amber and silver brooches. The interest they generated due to their strength, originality, and my unique choice in treating amber convinced me to develop a capsule collection of about twenty amber and silver pieces, including rings, necklaces, and bracelets, titled: "Enter in this matter as into Life." This eponymous collection is accompanied by a poem inspired by my love at first sight for amber, which perceptibly evokes for me the fleeting nature of our lives, much like amber and its history through geological ages:

“Enter into this matter as into life.

First liquid as tears, then fossilized as our joy and sadness.

Underneath this rough shell, shine, and beats,

Our sensitive mosquito hearts.”

In this developing series, I find myself reflecting:

Will we be marked by the History of amber, or will it be the one to keep the trace of ours?