Ruudt Peters’ conceptual art jewelry uses a wide range of
materials and layers religious and spiritual philosophies to create pieces that
are visually captivating and intellectually curious. I asked Mr. Peters some
questions about his work and Qi, his exhibit presented by
Ornamentum Gallery at Design
Miami/ Basel.
Ibiayi Briggs: You’ve created works that reference
philosophies and incorporate iconography from Christianity, Hinduism, and
kabbalah. What led you to choose jewelry
as the outlet for exploring these concepts?
Ruudt Peters: I am trained as a jeweler, but choose to make
artwork for the body because I find the interaction between the wearer and the
piece to be a much stronger relationship then
say ‘the viewer and the artwork’. When you wear a piece of my work you
convey a philosophical message to the world.
A piece of jewelry conceived and made with no meaning has no
reason to exist.
IB: Beyond subject matter, does religion or spirituality
play a role in the creation of your jewelry and objects?
RP: ‘Bezieling’ is a Dutch word that is almost impossible to
translate. The translation is a combination of afflatus, soul and spirit. In
the subconscious of each piece of artwork there must lay these qualities. My
hands are stronger then my brain, and they lead me to a spiritual language.
Religion is an anthropological mirror of a society.
IB: What was the process of creating the Qi series and
getting it ready for Design Miami/ Basel?
RP: ‘Qi’ started with a 3 month journey through China to
discover Chinese alchemy. During this investigation I discovered Chinese
alchemy is the exact opposite of western alchemy. The western is an outer
alchemy, with the Chinese being the inner.
What I mean by this is that the western outer alchemy is
concerned with the quest of material investigation from lead to gold, while the
Chinese inner alchemy searches for an Elixir of Life- encompassing a holistic
view on life. These differences are also
reflected in the western medicine’s approach to fighting particular diseases
while eastern medicine, in particular acupuncture and herbal medicine seeks to
maintain or restore health in the whole of the body in order to cure
ailments.
‘Qi’ holds the energy of life, I discovered this by getting
in touch with it during my time in China. I spent those three months making
blind drawings… I came across my sub-consciousness to have direct contact with
my belly.
Following this investigation, I took my research back to
Amsterdam where I then spent 9 months designing and making the collection ‘Qi’,
as well as designing the installation of the work as it was to be shown in the
fair setting, being exhibited by Ornamentum at Design Miami Basel 2013.
Images courtesy of Ornamentum Gallery.