As it comes to you it is a bit like with Santa Claus: everybody talks about him but no one has ever seen him… Only “Can you imagine?” show at the Gala of Fashion and Amber proved that you really exist.
(He’s laughing) The truth is that during the last few years I used to be better known abroad than in Poland. At this moment it is difficult for me to state if this was a deliberate choice. It is rather a result of a coincidence than conscious action: it is just that a particular time I was receiving considerably more serious orders from abroad and I was concentrating on their realization. However, I have not completely given up a Polish market: for a long time – so long that even I do not remember the exact date – I have been cooperating with three friendly galleries in this country. Anyway it is not me who is of importance but my jewellery and the people who buy it. Personally I would prefer to limit my activity to designing.
Do you design by yourself?
I have my employees but they fulfill my designs according to my directives, sometimes suggesting technical details. It is true that my jewellery is repetitive but limited in number and after all niche. I try to prepare a new collection every year for Amberif, sometimes I manage to offer something new between collections. I am a bit terrified of my artist’s block, especially when hearing that my colleagues introduce 100 new designs each year. Although I personally think that introducing 10 good designs on a monthly basis is rather impossible… In my opinion it is not enough to design a really good thing but it is important to do it in the right moment and place. I have noticed that the audience generally pays attention to things being shocking – both in the arts and in the media. I think this is a very dangerous bend because then good and valuable things may not get noticed. I totally do not understand why it happens like that. My sensitivity is completely different.
This is a behaviour typical for the young who wish to be noticed, especially in competitions. Do you sometimes take part in competitions?
Four years ago I entered into Mercurius Gedanensis competition a necklace from the collection called “Golden Polish autumn” and it was totally unnoticed by the jury. But it was notices by many participants of the fair who acknowledged my necklace to be the most beautiful object at Amberif. Moreover, even after the fair I continued to receive phone calls with congratulations! An it was the most beautiful award for me.
Is amber a satisfying material?
Each piece of amber is like another adventure – and maybe that is why I love working with it so much. Even diamond cannot offer as much as amber. It can be highly inspiring – sometimes one piece provides a beginning for a whole collection. I would call it a kind of a harmony with amber: I love it and it repays for this affection, showing me its natural beauty. But it can also be ungrateful: sometimes it crumbles and breaks.
“Can you imagine?” show was one of the best shows while this year’s Gala of Fashion and Amber. What was the inspiration for its realization?
I have been thinking about it for a long time, I have watched earlier shows from the Gala and I have thought what to do and how so that the whole would look good and professionally. I have noticed that very often it happens this way that strong personalities of a fashion designer and a jewellery designer get clashed – as a result the fashion and the jewellery form two totally separate existences. We wanted them to form one coherent whole, that is the clothes really suited the jewellery and vice versa. Fortunately, Agnieszka Gruszka and me were able to understand each other and even empathize with the role of the other side. For me it was easier because as a jewellery designer I can see with the eyes of my imagination a type of a woman for which it will be suitable and what she should wear.
We were both beginners at the Gala so we had quite a lot to lose. Besides we had rather little money to dispose so I was very afraid of the confrontation with the others, especially with Michal Starost, being famous for certain “madness”. The preparations for this show meant half a year of hard work.
Was it worth it?
The next day after the show my fair stall was visited by the people congratulating me; one of the ladies was even moved to tears. I was very pleasantly surprised by these reactions. So I guess it was worth it. 2007-08-29 | 
