Dark Matter

08.02.2012 | Blog , Fashion | BY: admin

Noemi Klein’s jewellery has an elemental magic to it. Gold rings with the look and feel of mined minerals are layered between rings inspired by rib cages, bird claws and branches. Sparked by her own minimal style, Klein’s jewellery has a gothic prettiness that aches to be piled on and set against a black backdrop. Originally from Trier in Germany but now creating her pieces from a studio in East London, Twin spoke to the 34-year-old about her work and method…

When did you start making jewellery and why?
I started making jewellery when I was studying English literature eight years ago, partly because I couldn’t buy the pieces I liked and partly as a way to relax from the stresses of having to write essays. My hobby evolved into more serious metalwork when I was given cast off pieces of equipment by my dentist father, which got me started working with silver.

How many collections have you done?
It’s difficult to say because I work on each piece for itself. They then become parts of collections. I would say I make something like two new pieces each week.

What materials do you use in your work?
My work is made mainly from silver and gold, sometimes I use natural stones and recycled parts of vintage jewellery.

What objects and ideas inspired the current collection?
All my work is based on various aspects of the natural environment: landscape, anatomy, and most recently astronomy and geometry.

For current pieces I was inspired by Greenland photography by Markus Buehler, and abstract space painting by Don Davis. Someone gave me some amazing fish bones from the Philippines that will form the basis of new work, and just now for this underwater series i’m really into the story of the Venus flower basket.

Do you design with a certain woman in mind?
Yes, me! I tend to make what I want to wear or what I like to look at as an object. But I find that all kinds of different women like what I like, and men, too!

Is there a particular film or book that inspires your work?
My favourite book is a Japanese novel called Kokoro, which roughly translates as “the heart of things”. There is a certain directness in it and the idea of the dark side in the quest for enlightenment which appeals to me, and I suppose you can see those in my work.

For the same reasons I love Luc Tuymans paintings and Robert Adams photography.

What role does jewellery play in style for your?
My clothes are mostly black so I wear single, simple pieces of jewellery during the day. When I go out I layer up on rings, and I’ve been seen covered in chains wearing one of my body pieces.

What are your working rituals?
I mix a straightforward German work ethic with a pretty dishevelled attitude to life, which in practice means I work a lot, on a various different projects. At the moment I’m working on commissions and a couple of collaborations (watch this space), plus i’m thinking about new work all the time, so no 2 days are ever the same.