Tara Jovanović is devoted to jewellery design from precious metals and other materials, and in the process she trains in different techniques, which take after the traditional ones – these curate her style of design; she combines individual techniques and thus creates her own compositions. Her jewellery is presented as wearable objects, which take up a role of objects of expression. Her expertise in the field of precious metal design is currently advancing under the mentorship of silversmith Huberto Široka in his studio on Bled.
She perceives herself as a storyteller, as she has been always interested in fairytales and folktales, national myths and legends, which all find their place within the tales, embedded into the designer’s objects. Born in Slovenia to parents, who are both designers, she was surrounded by traditional crafts, folklore, music and folk legends. Forgery and assembly of complex objects from square outlines, now prominent in her work, tell the story to the beholder. Her individuality is embedded into every piece, the fairy tales became her inspiration, and her inspiration became her work.
Through the interaction of the designer and material arises the tale, which reflects in her work as a manuscript, transcribed with disciplined, almost ritually repeating gestures that precisely and carefully cultivate the metals, adjusting the manuscript’s creation to their alteration. With this ritual the designer meditatively enters herself, her interior and spirit, sharpening the mind and tuning the energies.
The techniques and material involve the traces of collective memory and its associations, from the traditional craft and antique workshops to the ignited fire and the sound of smith’s hammer. The material and Hephaestus’ craft is creatively incorporated into her philosophy through upgrading the metal form and involving the modern material – creating a multilayered synergy. Even though she strives for simplicity, she enables the visual and tactile characteristics of matter and material to intensify the experience.
In February 2016, she participated with her knitted jewellery piece “Bracelet for Julija” in the project “Prešeren’s muse through modern design and photography interpretation” of gallery HNK. A year later, with the academic sculptor Martina Marenčič, she co-created a line of objects for home “Conglomerate”, for which she also conceptualised jewellery. The start of her story with precious metals also takes place in the year 2017, in master’s workshop on Bled.
When designing jewellery, she nurtures the character of material and thus creates the aesthetic of her objects. The different materials are combined with the approaches of classic silversmither embedding of precious and semi-precious stones, installation of casts, patina, casting and welding – with the objective to create the desired texture and shape. Every piece is carefully planned, and objects are set to establish a desired relationship with each other and to tell a tale with its moral to the beholder – in the process of creation, the designer forms her personal aesthetic.
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info@tarajovanovic.com