Studio Zigzag 2/3 Know-how

Snem and Didem have no limits, they like to research, learn and reinterpret traditional codes. Let’s discover their working process.

Where are you working ?

We have our own ateliers in Istanbul and Ankara. We are working at our ateliers to produce works by traditional jewelry making techniques. If we need to work with industrial machines we use our friend Erdal Duman’s sculpture atelier.

How and when did you start jewelry ?

We were always making our own jewelries but not consciously. When I was at university in Ankara I met with a contemporary artist group who canalize me to the contemporary art field. In 2011 I moved to Istanbul for a master program and the city was a heaven of galleries, museums and exhibitions for me. With a group of friend we established a collective with the name of Inout Project and produced several art projects within the scope of city and public space. These years my thoughts about jewelry started to change. For me “contemporary” jewelry started to be a category of contemporary art, a way to express my self. And with Didem we started to produce new wearable works by using the materials and machines at the university.

When have you created your first jewel and which kind of jewel was it ? How was it ? How did you feel?

Like many children we were creating a lot of jewels from the found materials or toys. But the jewel that i still remember is the textile dolls necklaces made by using sewing machine. Every single day we were making the new ones for us and friends (it was so popular for our friends too) For long time every child we know was walking around with our textile dolls necklaces. It was funny!

How do you organize your creation process / work (drawings, moldboards…) ?

For us the most important thing is our sketchbooks / notebooks. It is a kind of our body part. If we have an idea we write or draw with the date. We realized that if we don’t use notebook/sketchbooks during the process, we couldn’t manage the process. Then we discuss together about the idea. It is a kind of brainstorming for us. We are so similar but at the same time so different. And to be different, to think in different way is great for creation. During our discussions we are talking about idea, materials, production technics and we make a plan for the process. After these discussions we start to explore and read, to strengthen the idea. By the same time we make draft models to see the mass impression. If the draft models are ok we start to produce with selected materials.

Which materials do you often use ? Why ? How do you choose raw materials ?

For us everywhere have the potential to be a material library and as if we live in a megastore of the materials. To question the precious and non-precious concepts in the jewelry field makes us to experience wide range of materials. So we are working with the materials ranging from cotton to stone. The materials can not be thought apart from the idea for us. Sometimes the idea makes us to select the materials and sometimes the materials give us the idea.

To read the next part : Studio Zigzag – 3/3 More details about Snem…