The jewellery pieces from the collection CONTAINERS (2014) and CONTAINERS in Context (2014 – 2015) are a research for the aesthetic potential from disposable packaging and are inspired by their interesting but unnoticed design. Through their use as moulds, the negative space of the package will be made visible and materialized in plaster and resin. Challenged by this ambivalence, between waste and its aesthetic potential, Swillen’s designs and materials play with the notion of precious and worthless. Through production and reproduction she investigates the industrially manufactured and its potential applications in craft. The repetitive making process, which refers to the mechanized production of goods, offers the opportunity to produce series of work as well as to make unique pieces. The neckpieces and brooches from the CONTAINERS collections will challenge the wearer to give value to the subordinate product and will draw the attention to the intrinsic but often unnoticed qualities of things in our everyday surroundings.
Photographer Elio Germani gave special consideration to the valorization of Swillen’s concept and the method lying behind her CONTAINERS series of jewels. For this shooting he decided to focus on the background, that he conceived as a structure able to welcome the extremely various shapes of each piece. The photographer’s aim was to accommodate the intrinsic coherence of the series, which reflects a soft fusion of concept and shape. He has therefore created a frame capable of welcoming every piece. The shapes of disposable plastic packaging that make up the series delicately inspire the structure. Even if the background refers to the shapes and concepts of the jewels, it also plays a complementary role: the opacity contrasts with the brightness, as vivid colors stand out from the black and white pattern.
