Giovanni Corvaja

Goldsmith

©Chris Ryan

The golden fleece

Giovanni regards his craft as a journey, not a destination
Each piece requires hundreds of kilometres of gold wire
In 2019 he was finalist at the Loewe Craft Prize

Giovanni Corvaja is a renowned Italian goldsmith whose works have been acquired by the most prestigious museums and collectors in Europe, America and Australia. “I believe that manipulating and transforming gold is the most beautiful activity there is,” he says. “It allows you to concentrate a huge amount of energy, details, dedication and passion into small objects.” Thanks to his solid background and training, for 30 years Giovanni has been probing the artistic, formal and technical aspects of goldsmithing. Inspired by Greek mythology and the study of Alchemy, his researches led him to the creation of his own Golden Fleece: by reducing gold and platinum to the dimension of one fifth of a human hair, he discovered a whole new world of expressive possibilities in the field of jewellery.

Interview

Why did you develop a technique to turn gold into a yarn?: Precisely the desire to "spin" gold, as an almost magical act of transformation, has led me over the years to succeed in obtaining fibres with absolutely unique properties. That is, the softness and tactility of silk, combined with the density and conductivity of gold.
Do you like to experiment?: I like the idea of stealing from science to make a gift to art. In recent years, I have been experimenting with techniques used in chemistry and physics in a vacuum environment. In this way, I can combine gold filaments without having to weld them together.
What inspires your creativity?: I find the simple act of making extremely inspiring; while I create an object I draw inspiration from the process itself and from its results. I rarely stop my ideas by drawing or describing them, I just leave them the freedom to change over time.
How important are tradition and innovation in your work?: I am lucky enough to practice an art that combines age-old techniques with the technologies and science of the last decades. But for me there is no separation between one and the other. What matters the most is the artistic expression.

Giovanni Corvaja is a master artisan: he began his career in 1986 and he started teaching in 1998