TATIANA PONIZOVSKAYA: A LIVING THING
Tatiana Ponizovskaya is a UK-based Russian jewellery maker and designer. She learned how to work metal into her designs at Stroganov Academy in Moscow and spent several years making jewellery and perfecting her craftsmanship.
To then notice that modern mass-produced jewellery is lacking character and potent emotion embedded in the design. She wanted to create objects that would have a personality that the wearer can resonate with. Having a keen interest in character design and animals, she channelled that passion and continued her education at Central Saint Martins. Her final project, a Living Thing, is a collection of rings, inspired by the merge of strong negative emotions and scary animals.
A Living Thing project is an exploration and a synthesis of human emotions and animalistic characteristics in jewellery design. Choosing unconventional creatures as sources of inspiration, Tatiana experimented and discovered ways to channel their essence into stylized rings. Their design emerged through observation of spotted hyenas, their behaviour and movements, and iterations of two- and three-dimensional forms. These heavy rings remind of the power that rages within.
Hyena ring collection explores ways jewellery can function as a vessel for destructive emotions. How can it become a tool for the wearer to acknowledge, experience and express them safely. The relationship between objects and owners and how they influence each other is a fascinating part of jewellery design that Tatiana explores. In the age when items are easily discarded and moved on from, she focuses on creating meaningful tokens of strength that form a sense of empathy and connection.
As a maker, Tatiana prefers traditional wax carving techniques to bring the animal out of the material in her home workshop. She recycles discarded silverware and unwanted jewellery for her collection, liberating the creatures from mundane tame objects. Each ring is tweaked and fashioned to fit the client. Handmade sculptural rings are produced and treated with different surface finishes to enhance the shape and emotion embedded in them. Pearls, patinas, and textures invite the wearer to touch them and interact. A sense of touch and play is something that Tatiana focuses on while shaping the next creature.
A Living Thing is an ongoing project. Tatiana plans to create a menagerie of animal-inspired jewellery, where everyone can find their token with a unique emotional expression that connects the owner and the piece. As many creatures as there are, combinations of shapes, colours and characters are an endless source of inspiration. Tatiana's goal is to make meaningful objects that encourage people to explore both the beast on the palm of their hand and the beast within.
P.P Hartnett
