I was born in Venice in 1957, but I’ve lived and worked in Florence for more than 30 years.
I’m a goldsmith, philosopher and tightrope walker but I still haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do when I grow up, meanwhile (since 1980) I’ve designed contemporary jewels (but not only jewellery), both uniques pieces or collections, using traditional techniques and modern technologies, following my free inspiration and painstaking experimentation. In my small workshop I create handmade jewels in gold, silver, platinum, stones but also in unconventional materials like iron, plastic and aluminium…
I am self-taught, which has led me to acquire multiple skills and specific know-how to be: artisan, goldsmith, designer, teacher and artist (but I’d rather say maker) as both a hobby and a passion. I’ve been creating quality handmade jewels for many years as well as teaching my techniques and skills for international universities and for the University of Florence.
Objects, concepts: “stratified images, shapes in my memory”. I like to play with words, shapes and colours because everything has more than one - and only one - meaning.
"Thesis and antithesis: everything is by chance/nothing is by chance; the space between things is what really intrigues me".
...Maybe my work is only a continuous study of the infinite opposites that surround us: precious/common, pure/impure, explicit/metaphorical, playful/serious, simple or complex.
How thin is the line? Like a tightrope walker I’m looking for a balance between union and separation.
Some of my jewels, the most researched ones, are part of public or private collections, like my necklace “con-fine” and “l’anello mancante” that are part of the permanent collection of contemporary jewels in the “Museo degli Argenti” in Florence. Others creations are published in books or international magazines, but most of my pieces are constantly enriched and renewed by fresh perspectives and meanings from the changing world they inhabit.
Jewels of art, modern and contemporary, but in some way out of time and trends. Unusual objects, small sculptures, this is what I can - and love to - design…
Are you curious now? Go on and discover my collections!
Federico Vianello
Goldsmith
