About the artist
Margo Orlovik is the creative name of a London-based jewellery artist and designer Margo Misiak-Orlovic.
"My work has always been representative of my own personal aesthetic and interests. There is always a strong element of personal, emotional and intellectual engagement in everything I create.
I am a very curious, inquisitive person, and my creative practice is guided by a continuous exploration of meanings, interpretations and contexts. For me - both as a creator and a wearer - jewellery is a perfect tool to express my feelings and affirm my place in the world around me.
My creative imagination is based on contrast and subversion, deconstruction and renegotiation. The inspiration for my work comes to the same degree from nature and culture, human environment and fantasy."
About the process
All jewellery from both the CØLØNY and IMPRINT Collections are being brought to life using the precious metal casting process and I follow very similar steps for the making of each piece.
• Designing and prototyping: At the very start I design and prototype complete pieces (e.g. rings) or piece components in wax and base metal. For IMPRINT Collection all prototypes are constructed and textured in wax; you can recognise the material in the soft, organic, 'imperfect' shapes of this collection. CØLØNY Collection, on the other hand, is first constructed in metal, where it is much easier and more natural to render the angular, same-size shapes. I design many more pieces than I make. For a piece of jewellery to be taken further I must find it intriguing and beautiful enough.
• Casting: I take the selected designs to be cast in precious metal by one of a specialist London jewellery workshops. In most cases the metal is sterling silver but each piece can be cast in gold as well, if required. Sometimes I have a mould created, which lets me replicate the exact same design more than once.
• Finishing: This is the most labour intense stage for me. I clean the surface of all pieces with files and other polishing tools until I'm happy with the way it looks. I add stones, fire enamel, attach ear posts and join individual components into finished pieces. Then I file and clean again, until the piece is ready.
Apart from my precious metal collections I also create one-off art jewellery pieces. For those I use a much wider variety of materials and techniques. I will add these pieces to the website in the near future.
Exhibitions & Projects
25 November 2022 - 16 February 2023 : Devotional Jewellery : Oratorio San Rocco, Padua, Italy.
6-10 July 2022 : New Futures : Munich Jewellery Week 2022 : Loggia Gallery, Munich.
January - April 2022 : Getting Started: Stars in the Making 2021-22 : The Goldsmiths' Centre, London.
8-14 March 2021 : House of Flowers : Munich Jewellery Week 2021 : online.
March - November 2020 : Inspired by Warhol : At Work Contemporary Jewellery Gallery, London.
November 2019 - 2021: Connections/Connessioni : Goldsmith's Centre, London; The Lighthouse, Glasgow, UK; Italy.
21 September - 31 October 2019 : Collectiva Meeting '19 : Collective Gallery, Porto, Portugal.
20 September - 20 October 2019 : CONTROLS / STRL + S, Art Jewelry Night of Budapest : Ráth György Villa/Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary.
10-12 July 2018: City Lit Art Show : SAFEHOUSE 2, London, UK.
28 June - 1 July 2018 : City Lit Jewellery Exhibition : Red Gallery, Rivington Street, London, UK.
15 June - 14 July 2018 : Polished : Morley College, London, UK.
9 June - 21 July 2018 : ACJ Choice: Summer : New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, UK.
8 January - 17 February 2018 : Lustre : Morley College, London, UK.
16 June - 24 July 2017 : Divergence : Morley College, London, UK.
March 2016 : MADE 2016 Drawing Painting Sculpture : Morley College, London, UK.
Awards and Residencies
2023 : Behrens Foundation Bursary.
2023 : RCA Vice Chancellor’s Achievement Scholarship.
2022 : Designing and Storytelling micro residency & workshop, LV21, Gravesend.
2022 : CraftHub Residency, University of Wales Trinity Saint David/Swansea College of Art.
2021 : Selected for The Goldsmiths' Centre Spotlighting Programme.
2020 : GIA Scholarship for Comprehensive CAD/CAM for Jewelry course, Gemological Institute of America (GIA), London.
2018/2019 : AA2A Artist Residency : School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire, UK.
Education
2023-2024 : MA Jewellery and Metal, Royal College of Art, London.
2016-2017 : Jewellery Certificate Level 2, Morley College, London.
2007-2010 : BA Applied Translation and Communications, London Metropolitan University, London.
Member
Contact
hello@margoorlovik.com