Klementyna Pielaszkiewicz was born in Gdansk in 1977. She spent her early youth in Pakistan and then studied the basics of design in England. She travelled very widely. In her biographical note, she mentions trips to India, Thailand, Jordan, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. In 2003, she graduated from the Industrial Design Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk and since then has been working as a jewellery designer. The artist herself has this to say about her work: “After a two-year hiatus, I now run my own business. My business plan won in a competition and I am now a participant in the From Graduate to Entrepreneur Project, IOPRD Priority 2, Measure 2.5. Promotion of Entrepreneuship, co-financed by the European Union. Amber is something obvious to me. I was raised in Gdansk and amber is part of the city. I value amber for its universality and plasticity. I like it most in its raw, natural form.”
Klementyna Pielaszkiewicz’s jewellery pieces are clearly divided into works made as individual items and those which are designs for potential mass manufacture by jewellery companies. Apart from typical jewellery, Klementyna makes pieces closely related to the wearer: colourful handbags and ornamental belts with pockets.
Her unique jewellery clearly makes reference to the artist’s biography. The traces of her travels, especially to the East, with the resulting fascinations and inspirations, appear both in the form which her pieces take and in their titles. Just as most contemporary artists, Klementyna Pielaszkiewicz uses diverse materials. Silver is the metal she likes to use most in combination with amber, glass, plastic, leather, seashells, stones and pearls.
Her comment on her winning competition entry is as follows: “My inspiration for the natural mystic entry was Perfume, the beautiful film by Tom Tykwer. The scent of burning tree resin, incense or amber, evokes images of the Christian liturgy. Incensing means sanctifying and demonstrating reverence, while the rising smoke is a symbol of the human being’s contact with God. The piece I made attempts to comprise these mystical and yet also natural aspects of amber. The gentle smoke, the focus of the figures and the dimly lit eternal amber held affectionately in the hands...”
