2018 Catalogue Archive

Swiss artist Helen Friesacher combines the traditional technique of enamel, in which powdered glass is fused to metal by firing at high temperatures, with strong geometrical shapes to create her wearable objects. Alert to the formal relationships created by subtle differences in contour, edge, folding angles and size ratios, she enhances her forms with vivid color combinations. In this neckpiece, sections of red brass in a shape that looks vaguely industrial or mechanical are linked into a chain, but any sense that these are standardized or mechanically produced metal elements is undercut by the translucent blue and amber enamel that creates a lustrous and beguiling surface. Helen Friesacher studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nürnberg, Germany, graduating in 2011. She has exhibited in Germany, Belgium and London, and her work is featured in the collection of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Germany.