Interview with Alice Rendon, 25 oct. 2019

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As winner of the LAO special prize, do you want to tell us about your personal experience in the school laboratories?

 

My 3 months artist in residence at LAO in Florence was a fantastic experience. After being graduated in 2017 and working by myself in a studio, it was great to be in school again and to be able to exchange ideas and knowledge with teachers and students.

 

What did you learn or improve as a goldsmith during your three-months stay?

 

With the great help of the teachers I learned the ancient technique chasing and repoussé. They showed me how to use the hammer and chisels and helped me to make a good start. Besides I was very happy to learn how to make my own chisels so I can adjust them to my designs and continue back at home.

 

How did the city of Florence and in general the Italian culture inspire your work?

 

Florence is a magical city with an enormous amount of art. I was very much fascinated by the dream like fresco’s I noticed at the ceilings of Uffizi gallery, called Grotesques. I used the residency to dive into this wondrous and mysterious world of the grotesque and I spent hours looking up at the ceilings to study and draw after them.

 

Do you want to briefly speak about the series you made during the residency?

 

I discovered that the grotesque is often inspired by Ovid’s Methamorphesis, mythological poems from Roman times. Ovid describes beautify how the world keeps on changing and transforming. I used the poems as an inspiration for the jewellery pieces I’m made during the residency.

 

How is your work going on? Are you working on something new or are you continuing with the collection you realized while you were in Florence?

 

The residency was a great opportunity to make a start with a new body of work and I still continue to develop pieces back at home. I used some time to reflect the results and my research, to understand in what direction I want to go. Since I cannot find grotesques in the Netherlands, I ordered some literature to continue my research about the grotesque.

 

Would you recommend this experience to your colleagues? Do you think it influenced your personal career and your growth as an artist?

 

I highly recommend everybody to apply for Preziosa Young 2020. With my busy life at home it was a great experience to be able to focus on a new body of work for a period of time. Preziosa Young organised a series of exciting exhibitions to show my work to new audiences. For the winner of the residency a very warm welcome is waiting and you can make use of the advanced technical knowledge and assistance at school. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!