Extra than 100 worldwide artists applied for this year’s Youthful Artist Award. Cong Ma was preferred as a single of the finalists. She been given an unrestricted income award of US$1,000 and exhibited her work in Platina’s booth at Schmuck, in July 2022.
AJF’s Younger Artist Award acknowledges assure, innovation, and individuality, advancing the careers of climbing artists. The competitors was open to makers of wearable art age 35 and below who are not at the moment enrolled in a experienced teaching method. Judging was dependent on originality, depth of concept, and quality of craftsmanship. This year’s jurors were being 2020 AJF Artist Award winner MJ Tyson (US) collector and gallerist Karen Rotenberg (US) and educator and curator Chequita Nahar (The Netherlands).
Ma’s operate signifies a team of excellent parts of modern jewellery. We requested her to notify us a bit about her qualifications and views on the potential of the field.
Bonnie Levine: Congratulations on getting 1 of the five finalists for the 2022 Younger Artist Award. What an accomplishment! Remember to introduce on your own to our readers. How did you turn into fascinated in jewellery? What inspires your operate?
Cong Ma: I am a painter, a jewelry maker, and a designer. Born to a family members of artists, I have been drawing ever because I could choose up a pen. I identified my curiosity in art jewelry for the reason that it is a exclusive art variety impartial of any operation nevertheless close to the men and women sporting it.
What does remaining a finalist suggest for you? Do you assume it will affect you going forward?
Cong Ma: Becoming a finalist would make me want to stick with artwork jewellery. I see the creativeness amongst all the finalists, and I am grateful to be related to this neighborhood, specifically immediately after a write-up-COVID period of soaring technological innovation and quarantine. By staying in this group, my awareness will hold up with the moments, and which is crucial to an artist’s development.
Notify us about the operate you utilized with.
Cong Ma: I see jewelry as a means to an conclusion for understanding about all sorts of information that curiosity me. My interest in geometry and larger proportions inspired this entire body of get the job done. For case in point, a a few-dimensional ball going by means of a two-dimensional issue would surface to be a circle growing and then receiving scaled-down right until it disappears. Also, a 90-diploma angle intersecting a slanted area unfolded onto a two-dimensional plane is no lengthier 90 degrees. These are interesting observations and phenomena. I would like to convey these illusions as a result of my perform in an summary way.
What excites you about the artwork jewelry area?
Cong Ma: I love creating artwork jewelry for the reason that of the liberty it gives me to chat about any subject in the earth that interests me in significant approaches.
Any frustrations that you see or have seasoned?
Cong Ma: The romance concerning my art and me is extremely organic. Each time I have an concept, I can know about 90% of that concept, and I am always happy. If there ever have been any frustrations, it could possibly be that I would like to find out much more tactics in jewellery-producing to be ready to categorical a lot more of my suggestions. But that would involve some time and motivation to understanding in the future.
Where do you believe art jewellery is likely? Do you see any new and fascinating trends?
Cong Ma: I imagine the art jewelry subject likely in many approaches. Initial, simply because the viewers is comparatively small when compared to other art fields, it could have the possible to improve extremely huge, to the extent that its definition will become ambiguous. It could possibly merge with vogue, household furniture, or technologies in the sort of games and NFT, which one can never ever use. So people might not want a bodily piece to use and get in touch with jewelry, but they could have an urge to affiliate, fantasize, and ultimately convey.
Exactly where would you like to be five years from now?
Cong Ma: I want to continue on to think about art jewelry philosophically. As a result of my have ordeals and exposures, I can produce a mature idea in style and design. I see it in the kind of a treatise in which I would systematically take a look at my views and have my artworks reflect those thoughts.
Congratulations yet again! Thank you for taking the time to respond to these thoughts.
This is the very last of our interviews with the honorees. Read the job interview with Youthful Artist Award winner Mallory Weston in this article. Our job interview with finalist Taisha Carrington is right here. Verify out Marion Delarue’s interview right here. You are going to uncover our interview with Aaron Decker listed here.
