Vanessa Zöller (MFA) awarded Third Prize of the BKV Prize 2021 for Young Crafts

From 102 entries from 25 countries, the jury selected three prize winners and two commendations. This year, the third prize of the BKV Prize 2021 for Young Arts and Crafts was awarded to Vanessa Zöller, an MFA graduate in Gemstones and Jewellery.
Her brooch "Erbstück" (Heirloom) will be exhibited alongside the other award-winning works of the prize winners and commended artists as well as the works of the 11 finalists in the Gallery of the Bavarian Arts and Crafts Association from 23 April to 15 May 2021.
This year's finalists include Felicia Mülbaier, who also graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Gemstones and Jewellery, and the two former exchange students Triin Kukk and Empar Juanes Sanchis, who each spent a semester at Campus Idar-Oberstein.

The "Erbstück" brooch is part of the Master's Thesis Vanessa Zöller made in the course of her studies in Gemstones and Jewellery. The jury justified its decision as follows:

A woolly hat fit for a doll? More of a loose-fitting bonnet, in fact. Just like the ones our grandmothers would have worn to avoid flattening their coiffures. At the top, however, is a circular opening with individual hairs protruding from it. They appear almost prickly, as if seeking to protect the inte- rior of this nest-like form and only grudgingly permitting a glance inside.Vanessa Zöller turns her grandmother’s pearls into a brooch in a highly original way: she connects and cro- chets around them with a self-spun thread made from wool and human hair. »Erbstück« – Heirloom – is the name given to this piece of jewelry that, upon viewing, evokes a number of ambivalent feelings. It is moving; it inspires curiosity; it promises stories. At the same time, it remains reserved, personal and private. Just as an heirloom should.

Master's Thesis Vanessa Zöller