Julia Obermaier

Jewellery maker

©Julia Obermaier

Geometric gemstone compositions

Julia creates wearable jewellery sculptures
Gemstones are the starting point for every piece
Assembling pieces takes days

It was a moment of disappointment that started off Julia Obermaier’s successful path in crafts. “Originally I intended to study interior design. But a professor told me that he could see my potential in fine arts than in interior design.” At first Julia was devastated, but then she started to research fine arts and stumbled across the craft of goldsmithing. It immediately sparked her interest. An internship with a goldsmith later, she signed up for professional training at the Staatliche Berufsfachschule für Glas und Schmuck in Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz, followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Advanced Design. Julia's technical knowledge and inimitable feel for composition is manifest in her wearable small-scale sculptures. She was awarded with the Special Mention of the LOEWE Craft Prize in 2022, Kunstpreis of the City of Kempten in 2024, and the Homo Faber 'Young Ambassador Selection' Award in 2024.

Interview

©Studio Erika

©Julia Obermaier

How come your pieces are so unusual?: I was not trained in classical gemstone cutting and therefore I do not use the traditional faceted brilliant cut. I follow a more experimental approach. The stone is the main material in my pieces. It is not just an eye-catcher, but the structure and the centre of every piece.
Could you describe your creative process?: I cut large stones into slices and then many small pieces that I assemble into new bodies. For the assembly, I do not use traditional techniques but join them together with a resin that I pigment. This creates colour gradients in the piece, sometimes it almost gives the stone a new colouring.
What fascinates you about working with gemstones?: What fascinates me most is that I can work with a material that most people do not consider accessible. I get to work with wonderful natural materials and I have the privilege to enter into a direct dialogue with them.
How does the nature of the material affect your creative process?: It is a lengthy process that almost resembles a meditation. I perform the same hand movement for hours. Without pressure, without haste. If I work frantically and do not care for the stone it will break. Then I have to start from scratch or go new ways with the fragment.

Julia Obermaier is a rising star: she began her career in 2016 and she started teaching in 2019