Campus for Design and Art

Danni Schwaag as Artist in Residence at the Idar-Oberstein Campus

Rings | mother of pearl | since 2009

The jewellery artist from Bremen will be working at the Idar-Oberstein campus and the Jakob Bengel industrial monument from August to October, replacing the previous AiR, Seth Papac from the USA.

Danni Schwaag is no stranger to the Idar-Oberstein Campus. After training as a goldsmith in Münster, she studied jewellery design from 2004 to 2008 on the diploma course in Idar Oberstein and at the Escola Massana in Barcelona. In 2013, her work was honoured with the Bremen Prize for Applied Arts for her series "l'art pour l'art" - an ironic look at the art scene. Her brooch "äääh" is currently on display in the exhibition "Broschen im Dialog zwischen Vergangenheit und Avantgarde" at Villa Bengel.

Danni describes her way of working as follows:

“like the play on stage, I put sequences together to form a choreography - mother of pearl, galalith, plastic, wood, enamel, leftover acrylic paint, found objects - a table full of materials whose origin and occurrence I am aware of, whose properties and colors fascinate me; everything lies there like a big puzzle, a game, a challenge. I put elements together, take them apart again, discard them, rearrange them. time passes. the color and shape variations seem endless - will it be possible to find and realize the “right” interaction? in addition to observations and experiences, chance often helps to find compositions. the playful process is one of the most important steps in my work.”

Behind each group of works there is a story and an intense research with colors and materials and their visual impact. mother-of-pearl, enamel, galallith, -an earlier plastic (1900-1930)- is one of danni schwaag’s favorite and dominant materials, but the artist also combines wood, copper, dried acrylic paint, porcelain, threads or found objects to create compositions, which can be abtract or figurative. Danni’s work is present in international galleries and collections.

Danni will open her solo exhibition at Villa Bengel on 17 October. You will find more information about the exhibition on our website shortly.

Here you can find more information about the Artist in Residence program

Here you can find more information about Danni Schwaag