An interview with Mária Nepšinská
Kristýna Španihelová
Mária Nepšinská is a theorist, curator and organizer of numerous jewellery projects. She is also a jewellery designer who studied at the s+m+l_XL Metal and jewellery studio headed by professor Karol Weisslechner at the AFAD in Bratislava and made several study visits abroad during her studies. She is a doctoral candidate at the art history and theory department of the AFAD.
Career of M. Nepšinská in jewellery design started when she studied goldsmith/silversmith craft at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Kremnica. Then, she studied theory and history of fine arts at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Comenius University in Bratislava and jewellery at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design. She learnt a lot during a several-month work in a goldsmith shop in New York. She believes that perfect skills in a respective craft are necessary for her work. She also believes that new technologies are interesting but mastering the goldsmith trade is a must.
Now, she is a theorist and creative artist, but she also organises various events, teaches at the Summer jewellery academy, is an active member of Jewellery designers association AURA and organises summer symposiums in Kremnica and the jewellery conference Šperk Stret. She has replaced theorist Ágnes Schramm in the theory of jewellery. Many contemporary jewellery designers prefer classic style and traditional processes. Now, recycling and upcycling is trendy. Opposite to such trends, there is conceptual jewellery as a communication medium. Jewellery is a form of thinking which an artist is expected to present to a viewer in a comprehensible way.
For some time, Mária Nepšinská has contemplated over recycling of the knives from antique cutlery sets. She believes it is possible to transform knives from useless items into functional objects. She will present plastic airplane models in her upcoming collection.