The inner journey of bead making
- Alessandra believes there is reciprocal respect between artist and material
- Her jewellery is the result of the meeting between design and craftsmanship
- Venice’s colours inspire her creations, combining reality and imagination
Alessandra Gardin graduated in architecture in Venice and worked in design until 2013, when she discovered glass and became captivated by lampworking. She trained under Murano masters, developing a passion for glass beads. In 2018, Alessandra opened the Kirumakata atelier, where she brings ancient knowledge to the present through jewellery with imperfect shapes and colour combinations inspired by the natural world. Each of her pieces of jewellery is unique and handcrafted, from creating the beads to choosing the colours and materials for the settings that blend in with the glass and the fasteners. Alessandra envisions her creations as stirring objects, and uses textured surfaces and uncontrolled forms to evoke primal emotions. Since 2022, she has shared her workshop space, Kontempo Venezia, with Nicoletta Venerando, also a glass jewellery maker.
Interview
- What relationship do you have with Venice?
- I arrived here to study, and then I chose it as my home. It is a city that makes you fall in love, it captures your heart. The beauty you experience every moment shapes and transforms you, just like the flame shapes the glass, which has become as integral to my life as Venice itself.
- What fascinates you most about glass?
- It is a magical, living, vibrant material that changes shape and colour when it comes into contact with fire. It allows itself to be shaped by manual techniques and knowledge from the past, yet it takes on contemporary forms and colours, bridging the divide between traditional craftsmanship and innovative design.
- Is there something about your profession that not many people know?
- It requires a talent for working with fire and heat, and accordingly demands a great deal of attention. It is a truly poetic craft form made up of measured, delicate gestures, patience, and a love for glass.
- How do you relate to colour?
- For me, it is all about unbridled emotion. I work with a material that comes in countless nuances, and playing with the layering of opaque and transparent colours allows me to achieve wonderful, unique effects that capture the myriad hues of emotions.
Alessandra Gardin is a master artisan: she began her career in 2015 and she started teaching in 2018
Works
Where
Alessandra Gardin
