This unusual brooch is by the contemporary designer Daphne Krinos. The brooch is made of oxidized silver and the two pentagons are joined to form a link.
Daphne Krinos was born in Athens in 1955. She studied Jewellery Design at Middlesex Polytechnic and the Sir John Cass School of Art. In 1982 she set up her own studio with a grant from the Craft Council. In 1971 the Crafts Advisory Committee (CAC) was formed to advise the government ‘on the needs of the artist craftsman and to promote a nation-wide interest and improvement in their products’, in 1979 the CAC was renamed the Crafts Council. The Council believe craft skills and knowledge enrich and uplift us as individuals and can change our world for the better.
Daphne’s jewellery is sculptural, often using recycled gold, oxidized silver, precious and semi-precious stones. Each piece is a one-off creation defined by bold use of colour, form, shape and texture. Her work is often inspired by urban landscapes, the streets of London. Daphne Krinos invites you to touch the places she loves. Over the years she has found inspiration in the photography of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Daphne’s view is that industrial buildings are monuments of sorts, there is a majesty in man-made structures; metal fences, scaffolding, street art and buildings in various stages of development or decay.
Hilla and Bernd Becher were born in Germany in the 1930s. For forty years they photographed disappearing industrial architecture around Europe and North America. They began collaborating together in late 1950s and married in 1961. Bernd originally studied painting and typography and Hilla trained as a commercial photographer. They photographed industrial structures including water towers, coal bunkers, gas tanks and factories. Their work has a documentary style with their images always in black and white. Their photographs never include people. They exhibited their work in groupings of several photographs of the same type of structure and are well known for presenting their images in grid formations. They are often labelled as conceptual artists, influencing minimalist and conceptual artists of the 20th century. Bernd died in 2007 and Hilla in 2015. Hilla’s obituary in the Guardian quotes “By placing several cooling towers side by side something happened, something like tonal music; you don’t see what makes the objects different until you bring them together, so subtle are their differences.”
Cooling Towers by Hilla & Bernd Becher photographed between 1965-1997
Daphne says of her jewellery “I would like to think my work reflects the qualities of the materials I choose to use. A finished piece should show the processes used to make it. I never over decorate, cover up or try to disguise or alter the texture of the metals I work with. I make jewellery which can be worn easily and comfortably. I enjoy the restrictions this imposes on the creative process. I look at a great deal of metalwork and jewellery from various periods and cultures. My ideas come from the world around me, whether this means my immediate environment, the natural world, art, architecture, man-made objects, my family, my background or my emotions. I make everything by hand. Metal is my language; cities are my inspiration. The colours and the quality of light in Greece where I was born are ‘inside me’ and they show in my gold pieces. I love making jewellery that is timeless and easy to wear.”
Daphne Krinos working in her studio in London