Dovile wearing FLOW ring
©Agne Bekeraityte
Dovile Kondrasovaite
Born 1989, Dusetos, Lithuania
EDUCATION
2012 | BA in jewellery and smithery, Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania |
2011 | Study exchange at Escola Massana, Barcelona, Spain |
PROFESSIONAL POSITION
2016 - current | Jewellery tutor, The Quarterworkshop, Birmingham, UK |
2019 - 2020 | Artist in Residence, Birmingham School of Jewellery, UK |
2013 - 2015 | Jewellery tutor, Art Studio Ramios Bites, Vilnius, Lithuania |
EXHIBITIONS
2021 | THE DREAMERS, collection preview, Meno Materija, Kaunas, Lithuania |
2019 | TEKME/FLOW, solo exhibition, Art jewellery gallery ARgenTum, Vilnius, Lithuania |
2019 | TRIPLE PARADE Biennale for Contemporary Jewellery, How Design Center, Shanghai, China |
2017 | MAKING IT NOW, group exhibition, Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin, Wales, UK |
2017 | PRESENT, group exhibition, Studio Fusion Gallery, Oxo Tower Wharf, London, UK |
2017 | LUMINATES, group exhibition, Mint Shop, London, UK |
2017 | NATURE MORTE: Contemporary artists reinvigorate the Still-Life tradition, group exhibition, Wroclaw National Museum, Wroclav, Poland |
2016 | THE EYE / HOME, group exhibition, Magan gallery, London, UK |
LATEST EVENTS
| 2020 | MADE, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK |
| 2019 | CENTREPIECE, Birmingham, UK. |
| 2019 | JOYA Barcelona Art Jewellery & Objects, Barcelona, Spain. |
| 2019 | AMBER TRIP, XV International Baltic Jewellery show, Litexpo, Vilnius, Lithuania |
| 2018 | DAZZLE LONDON, Oxo Tower Wharf, London, UK |
| 2018 | MADE IN LEAMINGTON, Town Hall, Entertainments Venue, Leamington Spa, UK |
| 2018 | DAZZLE @ DOVECOT, Edinburgh, UK |
| 2018 | THE CONTEMPORARY CRAFT FESTIVAL, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK |
| 2018 | AMBER TRIP, XV International Baltic Jewellery show, Litexpo, Vilnius, Lithuania |
| 2017 | DAZZLE LONDON, group exhibition, Oxo Tower Wharf, London, UK |
| 2017 | MADE BY HAND CARDIFF, contemporary craft fair, Cardiff, UK |
| 2017 | DAZZLE LONDON, group exhibition, Oxo Tower Wharf, London, UK |
| 2017 | NEW DESIGNERS, ONE YEAR ON, Business Design Centre, London, UK |
| 2017 | THE CONTEMPORARY CRAFT FESTIVAL, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK |
| 2017 | AMBER TRIP, Art Jewellery Competition show & jewellery show Vilnius, Lithuania |
| 2017 | THE EYE, Contemporary Jewellery Symposium, Telsiai, Lithuania |
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
The central concept of my jewellery is time and natural ageing processes. This is shown through the use of hand-carved amber and wood, their interplay, giving a sense of the growth to the wearer. My task is to make an object which itself cannot be measured clearly within a timescale. The shapes I am making could look like driftwood or a still growing structure. To me, ageing is an absolutely gorgeous process which naturally creates such great lines no matter if it is my face getting wrinkles, a tree bark or a bud of flower starting to bloom or even a coming wave. It could take seconds or centuries.
The materials I have chosen to work with have gone through long ageing processes until they have reached my hands as natural raw Baltic amber and bog oak and other naturally black hardwoods. Amber as a material is deeply rooted in my Baltic identity and, sadly, is not a self-renewable resource. Its overuse within commercial mass produced jewellery design has inspired me to explore the material within my own work with a hope to modify the image of amber and to use it in a more considered and contemporary way.
I bring wood and amber together into sculptural shapes. The visual confrontation of hard black wood and fragile amber and dynamic volume creates intriguing dialogue. Every design in shaping comes spontaneously without sketching or modelling. It is a satisfying journey following the very special material and my inner mood. Sometimes it goes into a very dramatic structure sometimes turn into a still and light design.
Over the time and with wear the objects will change, the surface may rub off, may crack and polish naturally. It is sustainable jewellery, which after wearing could be dropped into the bog or the sea again to continue the processes.
A man wearing FLOW silver brooch
