OVERLAP

Where forms, ideas, and lives meet.
Overlap explores jewellery as a space of connection, dialogue, and coexistence, personal, social, and cultural.

Layers touch, merge, and resonate, inviting reflection on intersections, shared experiences, and the subtle poetry of coming together.
This open call invited contemporary jewellery artists to investigate themes of intersection, connection, and
shared experience through works that engage with the body. Jewellery becomes a site where materials, forms, and ideas meet, coexist, and interact, creating dialogue between wearability, concept, and narrative.
The idea of Overlap can be interpreted on multiple levels: personal, social, political, and cultural.

In this exhibition, the theme also reflects the collaboration between two associations: AGC Associazione Gioiello Contemporaneo (Italy) and Plattform Schmuckkunst (Austria), highlighting points of convergence, mutual inspiration, and shared concerns.
Artists were encouraged to consider questions such as:

How can jewellery tell stories of meeting points between cultures, ideas, or perspectives?

How do lives, stories, or spaces intersect and resonate?

Can materials, shapes, or forms suggest coexistence, tension, or harmony?
Through this lens, Overlap becomes not only a visual and formal exploration, but also a reflection on connection, collaboration,

and the subtle ways in which physical, social, and symbolic elements intersect.

©Photos Noah Layr (watermark Plattform Schmuckkunst).

If unlabeled or otherwise labeled - All rights are reserved by the respective owner.

“people pleaser” responds to different bodies, contexts and demands, and is designed to adapt to shifting conditions and desires.

The title reflects the ambivalence of wanting to please—between adaptation and the desire for belonging. The piece can be worn as a ring in variable sizes, arranged as a pendant or brooch, or exist as an autonomous object, thereby resisting a fixed function.

Always ready for use, it adjusts to the wearer. In this mutability, overlaps of form, meaning and use emerge, revealing jewellery as a social interface—a medium that negotiates relationships, projections and belonging.

people pleaser

ring/pendant/brooch/object

925 silver

The brooch under the title "OL1_flower_power" refers to the current time of our life.

Where is the power for freedom?

The flowers, as a symbol for freedom, overlap as a statement not only the brooch, they might overlap as well our remembering and our spirit of humanity.

OL1_Flower_power

brooch
925 silver, steel, silk, flowers handmade of taffeta

This work explores a space in between where encounter becomes possible.

Here, human exchange unfolds: touch, irritation, friction, closeness—resonance.

An intertwined web emerges that grazes without becoming one, that shares space without merging. Overlaps become interfaces of a lively process— not a finished unity but an approach in the making, a space where something new may emerge.

In coming together nothing is complete and nothing fixed. A layer is given away,

something opens—porosity appears and connection becomes tangible.

Wearing the piece of jewelry collectively connects us to the present moment: unexpected, touching and immediately felt.

A shared now, a moment of encounter in which it becomes clear: everything stands in relation to everything.

In between

neckjewellery
Wool, silk, glass, 23 k goldleaf, magnets

The work explores the body as a territory of emotional and cultural overlaps.

A bronze fragment of a female figure, marked by compressions and cavities, accepts experience as a trace impressed on the skin.

An energetic line of 22 sapphires crosses the metal, marking a point of contact between vulnerability and strength, acting as a luminous scar that heals the fracture.

On the back, Mexican turquoise acts as an invisible "second skin": a spiritual geography connecting individual identity to an ancestral, collective memory.

This piece investigates the boundary where the physical self meets the external world.

Here, "Overlap" is not a mere fusion but a resilient dialogue between contrasting materials and narratives: the jewelry becomes a sacred site where the trauma of contact transforms into a harmonious coexistence between the individual body and the earth.

It is a reflection on how we carry our stories—hidden yet foundational—layered within our very essence.

TECTONIC BODY – Your silent overlap

ring
yellow bronzemexican turquoise (sonora state - campitos mine)22 sapphires from orange to yellow, 0.05 ct

 ©Solange Corso

‘Pink imagery’ is a brooch composed of darning eggs and lace bobbins, made of different kinds of woods, and adorned with rhodochrosite jade and oxidised brass.

Inspired by naturalia and artificialia collections, the brooch mixes together different materials and aesthetics to create a new and nuanced imagery.

Pink imagery

brooch
Hornbeam wood, beech wood, red beech wood, rhodochrosite jade, oxidized brass, stainless steel, water-based paint varnish

 ©Nico Covre

A moth as an iron magnetic brooch initially appears as a closed form:
overlapping dark moth wings conceal a second pair of wings with colored zirconias, which becomes visible only through movement.

The work explores layers and the relationship between surface and hidden structure – meaning unfolds through attention and motion.
The brooch becomes a metaphor for transformation, for navigating between darkness and light, and for the coexistence of different materials, forms, and meanings that relate to each other only through the interaction of layers.
When worn, the constellation remains mutable:

Overlap describes a state in which layers become visible and perceptible through interaction.

4th pic©Holger Bleck

"nighthawk"

brooch

iron, yellow zirconia, magnet

4th pic ©Holger Bleck

This piece explores overlap as a process through which collective form emerges from individual elements. The face of the brooch presents an abstract form caught mid-transformation: what is visible is already becoming something else.

On the reverse lies the underlying structure from which this abstract form develops: a floral configuration that, on closer view, resolves into a constellation of interlocking figures.

The work reflects on how communities form: each member shapes the whole, and is in turn shaped by it. What appears decorative at first unfolds as a social structure, where ornament becomes a metaphor for coexistence and the meanings and identities that arise when lives and perspectives meet.

Flowers / Becoming (Study 1)

brooch

tricolor silk PLA, UV resin, spring steel wire, steel components

©V. Eybl

“Schamgewebe” is a veil of chain mesh – a veil is often used as symbol for femininity, beauty, protection, but also concealment.

The name is a word play of the German word “Scham” which means pubic as well as shame and the word for tissue.

It reflects the societal expectation that femininity should be hidden and controlled, shaped by a long history of associating the female body with shame.

At the same time, the material resists this idea: the vulvas are visible and central and made of a metal that symbolizes strength, presence as well as femininity.

The veil becomes a paradox—both concealment and revelation—showing that what has been meant to be hidden can also be a source of power, identity, and visibility.

Schamgewebe

veil

copper, cotton

A flexible structure composed of layered elements that shift between tension and release.

Form is continuously reconfigured through force, proximity, and interaction.

As it is engaged, the structure changes configuration, producing varying densities and directions.

Layers press, separate, and reorganize, forming unstable yet coherent relationships in space.

A corroded metal element supports the structure, marking time as both constraint and endurance.

Hidden within this rigid part, a pin can be extracted through human intervention, activating the work and allowing it to enter into relation with the body.

“Overlap” is understood as fluctuation — where balance is temporary and form emerges through negotiation.

Held in Tension

brooch / object
elastic structure, kinetic mechanism, special welding, etching, corrosion techniques

©Byoung Chul Cho

Fifteen years after a life as a traveling artesano, I return to the origins of my artistic practice: to a fascination with color and structure, to the tension between softness and resistance in threads,

and to the mathematical intrigue of patterns and transformations—to the smell of burnt plastic,

to the smell of the street.

This enduring curiosity continues to drive my work.

Through numerous journeys, I explore techniques of jewelry and material making, developing an

ever-expanding internal archive.

From this reservoir emerge forms and narratives that overlay time and space—a condensation that constitutes the conceptual core of my practice: a constant internal overlapping process, moving back and forward.

Aire de la Calle

brooch

925 silver, shibuichi, finesilver, copper, polyester thread, dental wire

Cells: A Wearable Political Manifesto"Cells" is not an ornament, but a wearable political manifesto.

It arises from a material and symbolic layering:

a hidden base of carbon fiber—a metaphor for resilience—supports a sheet of oxidized steel, weathered by time like a wound.

The steel is perforated in a grid that evokes cages and structures of control, a conceptual reference to the Evin Prison and to the women deprived of their liberty for their ideas.

Yet, the seriality of the grid is interrupted by subtle variations: each void suggests a singularity resisting homogenization.

When worn on a living, autonomous body, the rigid structure of the jewelry creates a semantic short-circuit between confinement and life.

"Cells" becomes a critical device, transforming the grate from a barrier into a surface of connection between collective political memory and individual presence. It is the point where structure meets the body—a body that is never neutral, but an act of witness.

Cells

brooch

Carbon fiber, steel, silver, oxide

 ©Mariagiorgia Pacini

The work is part of an ongoing series of powder coated cubes connected in a linear sequence.

Each cube follows a gradual shift in scale and color from green through yellow to orange, creating a continuous progression.

Within this structure, the idea of overlap emerges through the colors themselves.

Rather than existing as isolated tones, the hues transition into one another,

creating zones where one color visually blends into the next.

These moments of transition form subtle overlaps, where boundaries soften

and distinctions become less fixed.

The work explores how difference and continuity can coexist within a single system.

Overlap becomes both a spatial and perceptual condition in which colors intersect visually,

scales echo one another, and the individual cubes form a connected rhythm.

Cubes: Chromatic Overlap
neckjewelery
steel, powdercoated, nylon, wood, magnets

 ©Konstanze Prechtl

MIRRORS is a series of 40 mirror-shaped brooches in oxidised brass and copper, set in silver, conceived as devices of relation and reflection.

The iridescent surface does not return a fixed image but instead activates overlaps among the human body, the other, and matter.

The mirror becomes a site of overlap: a point of contact between human and non-human, identity and otherness.

Surfaces are treated with structural colours on melanin—inspired by insects and birds—emerging from micro-layers that interfere with light.

These colours are not pigments but the result of a scientific stratification.

Worn on the body, the mirrored pieces reflect, creating shifting narratives among viewer and context.

The colour experimentation stems from a collaboration with scientist Maria Boto (KASK Academy BE).

Mirrors
brooch

copper, brass, silver, structural colours on melanin.

3rd pic ©Chiara Scarpitti

The Poetry of Chance

Cuttlefish Bone Casting in the Age of AlgorithmsIn a world increasingly shaped by absolute precision, CNC milling, and the cold perfection of3D printing, cuttlefish bone casting feels like a romantic ode to uniqueness—a dialogue between craftsmanship and molten material.

The heat of the metal creates a one-of-a-kindtexture, a natural grain no machine can replicate.

Gentle wave patterns become signaturesof the process.

It is a return to touch, to the sensory presence of material, to the exchangebetween maker and fire.

The result: a distinctive piece, formed through an ancient, ecologicaltechnique—transforming existing materials into new, singular creations.

Wellengeflüster / Wave-Whisper

ring

Tin-antimony alloy, pebble stone

Today, identity is less a stable state than a dynamic construct shaped by digital traces and data collection. Personal information, movement patterns, and online activities are constantly recorded and transformed into complex identity profiles.

This brooch reflects this multifaceted state.

Two fragmented sections of a three-dimensional facial profile made of copper mesh and transparent enamel overlap and shift, creating an unstable image.

Copper represents data streams, while the transparent enamel evokes the “transparent society.”

The patinated stainless steel frame with needl-like pins, situates these processes within a technological context and highlights the vulnerability of the individual within these systems.

Identity

brooch

copper, enamel, stainless steel

 ©Johannes Schweighofer

The story of life's journey—its highs, lows, and the transitions in between.

Overlapping forms like memories, each layer bearing the traces of a moment.

Some are clearly in the foreground, others blur beneath, all part of the whole.

The frames mark segments: stable times and those we must search for new.

They define boundaries—and simultaneously open a view to what lies beyond.

As in life itself, the layers are constantly shifting. What was hidden yesterday emerges today.

The up and down is reflected in the staggered layers:highs that support and lows that create space for change.

No layer stands alone,interplay do movement,rhythm, and balance arise.

A miniature landscape of life: a network of frames,layers,

lines that reminds us that every experience—visible or hidden—becomes a part of us.

lifelines

brooch

925 silver, textile, tree bark

3rd pic ©Claudia Steiner

Tension, contact, connection — these are the forces that shape this work.

We are drawn to the moment of equilibrium, and equally to its absence:

where opposing forces meet and connect.

Our inspiration finds its voice in geometric form — simple, clean, essential.

Nothing is excess.

What remains is only the purest expression of shape, lightness, and elegance.

We seek to capture what is elusive — the fleeting essence of time and space — and make it tangible.

In our work, geometry becomes feeling, and form becomes memory.

Mirror

brooch

silver 925, stainless steel wire

 ©Yoko Takirai & Pietro Pellitteri

The malleability of the copper mesh allows me to create a spiral, which I have painted gold like a medal, where the different turns intertwine like moving layers, creating a dialogue with the body for whom this brooch is intended.

This jewel, where material, form, color, and message converge, symbolizes the critical situations that can disrupt our lives, bringing with them challenges—of the ever-increasing difficulty—that we must face, react to, and overcome like heroes.

I hope that those who observe my jewelry pieces will not remain indifferent and will understand the message by delving into their own feelings and experiences.

I use form and color to reinforce the narrative power of my jewelry, which forms a collection of sculptures made for the body and space.

UNLIMITED

brooch

oxidized silver, copper mesh, earthenware paint, steel

©creatyestudio

The Whole brooch was born from the idea of "completing" a shape by superimposing half of it

onto a mirrored plate.

The idea stems from the desire to complete a shape only virtually, a part that isn't actually there but that, through a play of mirrors, completes the shape.

This work is the result of a continuous research into the shapes that surround us in everyday life,

which change appearance depending on how they are seen and reflected in space.

This brooch is composed of two elements: a laser-cut stainless steel plate that serves as a reflector,

and a 3D-printed steel element that rests on top and reflects itself.

It's interesting to think that the square shape of the brooch transforms, when worn, into a shiny mirror that reflects the entire space around it and the people it encounters a mutable object.

Whole

brooch

stainless steel

Nowadays we have the ability to live in different countries.

Each time we have to adjust to a new place, culture, customs, and make new connections.

It influences our personality, how we view ourselves and how we interact with others.

All these overlapping experiences merge together to create our identity.

Elements of it can be sometimes conflicting, unclear at first, hidden.

Tumultuous feelings inside us are guarded by a frame of resilience.

Carved ebony symbolises the need for warmth and connection.

Layers of materials and techniques contrast with the simple form of the brooch.

We carry an array of circumstances that shaped our identity.

Many of us share stories of struggles but also the benefits of mobility.

Overlapping slivers of life create our melange of identity.

constructed self

brooch

silver-plated brass, ebony, efcolor enamel, ceramic-coated steel, sterling silver, stainless steel

3rd pic ©Dorota Wilde