Misato Takahashi

Jewellery maker | Tarragona, Spain

A wearable tribute to nature

Misato works with natural materials to convey her concerns for the environment
Her jewellery pieces talk of consciousness and dreams
She participated in Joya Barcelona in 2021, winning her recognition

For Misato Takahashi, jewellery has become her way of grounding and connecting to her origins and to the places she lives in. She read foreign studies in Tokyo and moved to the UK with her Spanish husband in 2013 where she randomly took a jewellery beginners course in Edinburgh. This was her first contact with craft and a very technical introduction to jewellery making. It was not until 2017, when she was living in Barcelona, that she seriously embarked on her journey as an artisan. Misato enrolled at Escola Massana’s contemporary jewellery studies where she learned about the design process, the freedom of conceptual, artistic creativity and material exploration. Here, she found a pressing interest in the future of nature, Earth and humanity, making her jewellery pieces precious reminders of life’s impermanence.

Interview

©Misato Takahashi

What experience motivated you to specialise in memorial jewellery?: I was struck by the mourning jewellery exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It has a dark, yet romantic beauty. I do not wear jewellery myself, but I like contemplating it. I found it inspiring to carry with you something from your loved one.
What things do you mourn and are a source of inspiration for your work?: I ponder about the loss of our own planet, our ecosystem and whatever gives us sustenance. I mourn nature and use natural materials collected from places, like wood. I even use plastic as a message of irony. Perhaps I also mourn my place of origin.
How is your Japanese ancestry present in your craft?: I work with Japanese lacquer and kintsugi techniques. The lacquer is a natural resin and kintsugi is a method of repairing by highlighting imperfections and seams with gold to enhance its value. This is a way I can also pay tribute to my tradition.
What was your first creation as a jeweller?: I made it while living in Edinburgh. It was a piece created in silver, inspired by the organic, sea-like feel of Gaudí’s Casa Milà doors. Curiously enough I ended up relocating to Catalunya a few years later.

Misato Takahashi is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2013