Alexandra Ungurelu is a young jewelry
designer, with a great potential and so much to offer. Her dearest project
“Expression Contemporary Jewelry” was born two years ago and since then she’s
constantly experimenting and discovering the wonders of the jewelry universe,
by bringing ideas to life and putting them into original pieces. I was
delighted to get to know her at Jewelry Design Fair in Bucharest and later find
out more about her creations on a beautiful yet rainy Saturday afternoon.
I asked Alexandra to answer some questions
as I was convinced you would like to know her too. So, my dear reader, I am
more than happy to introduce Alexandra to you:
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| Alexandra Ungurelu, Contemporary Jewelry Designer |
How would you describe Expression -
contemporary jewelry in a few words?
AU: Jewelry
is an expression of self! My jewelry is an expression of myself and I believe
it can also be for other jewelry lovers.
Why silver jewelry?
AU: My story
with silver is pretty much simple. I love silver, the way it feels, the way it
looks and most of all the way you can manipulate it into almost any shape or
form. I believe it is the precious metal that represents me at this time and I
love how adorning it with precious stones only makes it more attractive.
What does inspire you?
AU: This I
think is an answer that changes constantly, because sometimes you can be inspired
by architecture, other times by food. Most of my ideas come from me constantly
observing and absorbing everything around me. From a song on the radio to the
shape of a flower, everything comes together in my mind and shapes are formed,
they are given a purpose and a life of their own. I believe that different
sources of inspiration give you place to evolve and create something different
and unique every time.
If you’d have to pick just one piece of
jewelry to represent your work from all your collections, which one would you
choose and why?
AU: It’s
really hard to choose just one, from almost twelve collections. I have done a
lot and different pieces that I love; each represents a certain feeling and
creates a special connection. I think at the time the one piece I care for very
much is the Silver Pill, it was a challenge to make and I started this project
with two guide lines in my mind: one was that it represented all the secrets
that everybody and anybody who wears it carries and the second was the fact
that to me it is a symbol for today’s world. We are constantly depending on
something, we are all addicted to one or more “substances” and it only seems to
get worse. This silver pill is sort of a reminder of what we have become.
How does your client look like? (A short
profile of the woman that buys Expression jewelry)
AU: My
clients’ profile varies as my jewelry collections do, so I guess a few
connecting traits would be the boldness to wear something unique, the need to
have something that completes and shows who you are and the love for creative
and contemporary shapes and design.
What jewel took you the longest time to
create?
AU: If I
remember correctly it was the “Spinning Ring”, I started working on it at the
beginning of this jewelry journey and it was challenging to put together but it
was worth every minute.
You made some gold jewelry as well. How was
the experience of working with this precious metal?
AU: For me
working with gold means having a different mindset than when I’m working with
silver, especially when I work with yellow gold. I believe that yellow gold can
be captivating but under the right circumstances and when it is given the
“right” shape. I say the “right shape” because I think it can sometimes express
more as something organic than something minimal or geometric, but of course
that is just my opinion following my taste in gold jewelry. It is a harder
metal to work with but it is just as beautiful and I had a great time
experiencing with gold in my “Golden Paper” Collection.
How was Alexandra before designing jewelry
and how do you see yourself now?
AU: I used
to search for things to make me happy, trying to find a way to express myself,
a way that I could show who I was but not all the way. I used to dress mainly
in grays, black, just dark colors and I didn't really feel the need to try new
things. Now I wear more colors (maybe not as much as I should, but I am getting
there). I exercise, I feel the need to travel and gather inspiration from all
around the world, I realized that I really love to cook so that is what I do in
my down time and most of all I have found a true way to express myself and that
is through creating jewelry.
Dear Alexandra, it is great how the passion
for jewelry makes you feel alive and it stimulates your imagination and
creativity. Keep up the good work and I wish you lots of inspiration!
I hope you all enjoyed this interview and I
promise you this one just marks the beginning of a very interesting section on
Jewelry Love Affair blog – Meet the
designer. So stay tuned for other interesting interviews!
Labels: 120degrees, Alexandra Ungurelu, contemporary jewelry, expression, golden paper, jewelry, jewelry love affair, meet the designer, morocco stars, silver cube, silver pill, silver wings, spinning ring
