MATHILDE QUINCHEZ – PROJECTS & REFERENCES
Making jewels requires a continuous reassessment, experiments, obervation and lots of curiosity. To conclude this interview, Mathilde Quinchez talks about the universes that inpire her, the issues being raised by this activity and her projects.
© Mathilde Quinchez
Can you mention three jewelry designers you like ?
I like many designers and jewels I discover during visits of exhibitions. Spontaneously, I think about Miranda Meilleur, an English designer. She creates jewels but mostly objects. She makes them from silver spoons. I have been captivated by her universe. I also think about Cathy Chotard, a French jeweller who makes a very beautiful and poetic work. She makes really delicate pieces, really airy and meticulous, often in gold. One of my former teachers, Fabrice Schaefer, a Swiss jeweller, makes a beautiful experimental work. Sophie Hanagarth makes very contemporary pieces, very different from mine but I like her sense of humor, her vision and the materials she uses. There are many designers I like and admire, for different reasons.
© Florent Leroy, Phytochrome, collaboration avec Solène Léglise
Do you have favourite artists ?
Yes, many but I am very bad at remembering names. I grew up in the universe of ceramic, my father was a potter and our house was full of jars. Ever since I was little, my attention has been focused on containers. Among ceramists, I am very moved by many works.
© Mathilde Quinchez
Do you have favourite jewels ?
Yes, I wear a ring I made called Sillons. It is one of my first rings, created when I was a student at the AFEDAP between 2000 and 2001. I have been wearing it almost every day for at least 15 years. It accompanies me every day. It is a ring that traveled with me and never leave me. It really is a fetish ring !
© Mathilde Quinchez
What are the qualities necessary to do your job ?
Curiosity, enthusiasm and patience. You need to desire to move forward, to be optimistic and inventive to keep going ahead. To be multi-skilled. We do different tasks and not only creation : photography, communication, sales, etc.
© Mathilde Quinchez
What would you advise to a new designer ?
I would advise to do interships, to discover different techniques, other approaches and what is done in other countries, etc. You need to be enriched in different working processes and different visions before wanting to open your own studio and to make your own pieces (even if it is precisely what I did !). We have the rest of our career to work on our own pieces ! You need to enjoy this period and enjoy studies to experiment and have fun. These are precious moments that we don’t easily get thereafter…
Is there a jewel – made by another designer – you would have loved to create?
A lot ! I often discover jewels in books or during exhibitions and tell myself I would have liked to create them. There are sensitivities that can meet up, be common. Sometimes, I would have loved to have this idea or this vision.
© Mathilde Quinchez
What is the most difficult thing about your work ?
Needing to be multi-skilled, to cope about everything, all the time. I like to work on my own but it is sometimes difficult as well. Energy only comes from us, we are our own motor. It is the most difficult thing even if it is also what I like about this job. We ap-proach different worlds, that is not monotonous, I am always learning !
What is the most rewarding thing ?
Certainly to discover stares of wonder. To discover the clients’ eyes shine. These are rewarding instants. I love when women wear one of my jewels, look themselves in the mirror and feel beautiful, in harmony with my piece. These are precious moments ! Being able to offer these moments is wonderful.
© Mathilde Quinchez
What are your projects ?
The opening of my shop was a big step, I have been a freelance for more than ten years and it is a new way to work. My customers is more local, I have more commissioned works. I hope to be able to continue my journey, to enrich and nourish it with meetings and new materials. I have to move forward. How can I nourish a creative approach throughout my life ? Will it stop one day ? I always have these questions in mind…
Which designer would you like to see on L’Envers du Décor ?
Stéphanie Martin, a designer from Nantes who works with porcelain. We sometimes meet and I think her universe is beautiful.
© Mathilde Quinchez
Photos : © Sybil Rondeau, © Mathilde Quinchez, © Florent Leroy. Cover :© Mathilde Quinchez. Photographs provided by Mathilde Quinchez and published with her approval.
