NELLY VAN OOST
Belgium

🎉 22/03/1985

EDUCATION

2010 - 2013
- University FH Trier- Master contemporary jewellery (Idar Oberstein - G)

2007-2010
- Escola Massana - Post-graduate degree (Barcelone-S)

2004-2007
- Classic jewellery school IATA (Namur-B)

MEET THE ARTIST!

Which materials do you enjoy working with the most, and why?

My favorite material to work with is nickel silver! I love everything about it! It’s my own personal gold! Its malleability, its color, the way it welds… I never get tired of it! When I’m at my workbench, I feel like I’m dancing with an old friend. My hands and this wire strike up a conversation.

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting to collect jewellery?

I recommend that you keep going, because it’s such a pleasure to own jewelry that has a story behind it, jewelry that’s connected to artists but also connects you, to those who’ll see it on you! It’ll be a wonderful way to start conversations and sometimes even convey messages.

Which moment in the making process gives you the greatest sense of satisfaction?

That’s when the piece of jewelry is finished and I try it on. I have a small round mirror on my workbench; it has been a witness to many moments of satisfaction at the end of long periods of work.

Do you work more intuitively or according to a plan?

I spend a very long time working on my jewelry in my mind. That’s where I refine them; certain parts change, as do the ideas surrounding their design. I know exactly when I’m ready to bring them to life in the studio. By the time I sit down at the workbench, the design for my piece is already complete, and that’s when intuition guides my movements. So that my idea can take shape.

A year ago, I learned that I am aphantasic (a term referring to someone with aphantasia, a condition characterized by the inability to mentally visualize images), even though I’ve always created my jewelry in my mind. It was so strange to realize this. Even though they’re so present, I can feel them. And the process of translating them into physical form is simply a continuation of that.

EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS

  • 2024  Art Brussels, Gallery Be Craft, Brussels (BE).
  • 2024 Jewelry all along the line, Galerie Handwerk, Munich (DE)).
  • 2023 METALLOpfone memory of the place. 6th contemporary metal art biennial ,Vilnius (LT).
  • 2022  Fuel and Foam, Galerie Hectare, Brussels (BE)
  • 2020 3 women and a farmer, Gallery Pont en Plas, Ghent (BE).
  • 2018 Next to the skin - Un regard porté sur l’intime Installation Golden Cages, Gallery BeCraft, Mons (BE).
  • 2017 Collect, Saatchi Gallery participation at The Collect Auction with artsy, London (UK).
  • 2017  Just Before Explosion , exposition en duo avec Rebecca Thumb von Neuberg (polyvalante artiste). Schmuck 2017, Munich (DE).
  • 2016 Incipit, Exhibition Off the Wall ATTA gallery, Bankok (TH).
  • 2012  Art of collecting, 6th Tallinn applied art triennial, Tallinn (EE)

AWARDS

  • 2017 Selected in "9e Prix de la Jeune Sculpture" at La Châtaigneraie, Centre wallon d'art contemporain Flémalle (BE).
  • 2014 Finalist in the Mari Funaki Award 2014
  • 2013 Finalist in the BKV-PREIS 2013
  • 2013 Selected in the graduation show 2013at the galerie Marzee
  • 2013 Selected in TALENTE 2013, The International Trade Fair for Skilled Trades Munich (DE).
  • 2012 2nd  prize deutscher schmuck und edelsteinpreis young competition. Idar-Oberstein (DE).
  • 2012 2nd prize Mineral art design competition-Idar Oberstein (DE).
  • 2012 Selected for "Ritual" 21st Legnica International Jewellery Competition.    

DID YOU KNOW?

I’ve often created voluminous pieces of jewelry that explore the connections and energy surrounding the body. One day, I gave a brooch to a German friend. A few months later, she told me that her husband thought the brooch was great because it helped them keep their distance from others (Germans hug each other to greet one another). That comment really made me question things, my piece of jewelry was going against the very theme that had inspired me to create it. So, following that conversation, I created a new series that involves crushing the piece of jewelry through the act of a hug. The title of this series is “Instant.” The person who buys the piece can choose whether or not to crush it. The artist loses control over the final form of the piece.