• Elie initially studied ceramics before turning to metalwork
• He opened his first studio in a shed in his parents’ garden
• He now lives and works in Burgundy, eastern France

Elie Hirsch’s professional life began when he discovered a tiny shed hidden away at the end of his parent’s garden that he could use as his workshop. “I found a sense of freedom in that small confined space, the power to make anything I felt like doing,” he says. He had long searched for this freedom, and suddenly had to learn how to respond to the blank page, to the idea that he was free to create whatever he wanted. It was an exciting process, and over the next two years he set himself the task of creating two collections of jewellery. “I’ve always been very demanding. I wanted a perfect result,” he says. The collections were subsequently exhibited in Paris.