Adresse
Uniquement sur RDV
26400, CREST - FRANCE
contact@azetama.fr
Horaires
Du lundi au vendredi: 7AM - 7PM
Weekend: 10AM - 5PM
Amanda Zimmermann Artisan
I settle into my workshop to bring singular, living, intimate objects to life.
For the past eight years, I have devoted myself passionately to working with metal. I shape it, transform it, engrave it and hammer it until it becomes an object capable of telling a story. A story that, in the end, never belongs entirely to the person who created it: it continues in the imagination of the person who looks at it, wears it and gives it their own meaning.
I am entirely self-taught. I have attended neither a jewellery school nor any formal training. I simply have an insatiable curiosity, a taste for experimentation and, I must admit, a certain attraction to complexity.
Over the years, I have learned and explored a wide range of techniques: repoussé, forging, engraving, chasing, stone setting, gilding, soldering, riveting… I have also developed a particular passion for designing small mechanisms: clasps, hinges, opening systems, secret compartments and other miniature constructions.
Mechanisms hold a very special place in my universe. If something can be made unnecessarily complicated, I will probably want to make it.
This freedom to learn as each project demands has allowed me to develop a practice of my own, somewhere between jewelry, objects and miniature mechanics. My creations can take many different forms, but they often share the same intention: to create an object that intrigues, reveals itself gradually and carries something symbolic or talismanic within it.
I like the idea that a piece of jewellery can be more than a simple ornament. That it can become a small fragment of a story, an intimate object, a presence kept close to oneself.
I work primarily with silver and brass. I recycle silver in my workshop whenever possible and limit my use of newly mined silver whenever I can. The precious and semi-precious stones I incorporate into my creations are carefully selected from traceable sources.
Gilding using the Japanese Keum-boo sometimes brings a touch of light to certain pieces. Copper, mother-of-pearl, wood and other materials or objects may also find their place in my creations, depending on the project and the idea.
Each piece is made with patience and precision. I seek to create objects with clean lines and durable finishes, designed to be worn, handled, passed on and, I hope, to continue telling a story long after they have been made.
Imagining, drawing, cutting, grinding, engraving, filing, sculpting, casting, polishing, setting, modelling, hammering, forming, soldering… playing.
This freedom is what I love most about craftsmanship: being able to learn what I need, when I need it, follow an idea all the way through and gradually discover a way of working that belongs entirely to me.
I also know that handmade jewelry has become a luxury, and that not everyone can easily afford the privilege of collecting it. I probably could not afford my own creations either.
So, to those who nevertheless choose to make room for one of my pieces in their world, I simply want to say thank you. merci.
Sincerely.
I will continue imagining and making things that, I hope, deserve the place they occupy in your life.
