Meet Anna Mazoń
Winner, Advanced Category, Journey Challenge
Congratulations to Anna Mazoń, winner of the Advanced category in the Journey Challenge! Her winning piece, The Truth Seeker, is a sterling silver pendant with fine silver bezel wire, two Baltic amber cabochons, gold keum boo foil behind the bigger stone, and some electroplated gold on the eyes.
“The Truth Seeker is a story about the journey to find the truth,” says Anna,” the answer to that unnamed question about the fabric of the universe, or maybe about who we are and what we do here, or maybe these are all just one question we don’t even know how to form in the right way but we all feel a yearning for the answer.”
“It’s also a story about getting to the truth – whatever it is – in two ways: the more intellectual one and the one blooming straight from our hearts, leading to the truth through weird and unexpected meanderings of feeling and premonitions. Neither is better than the other; they might lead to the same truth, or maybe to nowhere. This duality always boggled and inspired me at the same time.”
“I had this piece in my sketchbook for many years. I have a lot of ideas which one to me like lightning, often just when I am falling asleep. It feels like something sudden, but of course I realize that this is an effect of thinking, feeling, and generally absorbing reality for a long time. Things boil in our heads, just below the surface all the time and at some point a bubble forms and floats up to your consciousness. I call it my bubble theory of creativity!”
“So, I had it sketched but because I sketch very fast just to make a visual note for myself to be able to recall the idea later, it wasn’t as you can see in the drawing, a detailed sketch. But all the elements and the feeling behind the idea is there. Usually, because often I come back to the idea after a couple of years from sketching it down, the first thing I have to do is make myself excited about that particular project again. It involves evaluation: do I still think it’s a good idea? Do I still want to say it?”
Making the Pendant
“Probably the biggest challenge from technical point of view was to make the bigger vines on the sides of the pendant symmetrical. Those two pairs of interlacing vines required a couple of attempts and a lot of inner peace! I was seriously happy about how they looked like before the firing, and of course in the firing they shifted a little bit (understandably – they were attached to different things which worked differently in the kiln), so I had to reposition them again just by a fraction of a millimeter. And no, they are not 100% perfect, but I am trying to learn that imperfections are sometimes part of the story.
“The other difficult thing was to stop at the right moment. First, I sculpted the face and slip trailed the labyrinth, and that was mentally easy. But then, with the additional ornaments I wanted to keep it relatively simple – to get a feeling of stillness through the symmetry (in my mind I associate this kind of stillness with mystical “otherworldliness”), just subtly “broken” with two pairs of shorter, alternating vines. I really felt tempted to complicate it more, but I knew I would lose some of the visual impact of the piece. In my case it is usually more of a struggle to edit myself and to notice that sweet spot of “that’s it” rather than not having enough ideas for what’s next. I guess my universal advice in case of
any technical or design trouble is simply: don’t rush. Not sure about something? Give yourself time to think it through.”
When asked if she would do anything differently if she made it again, Anna replied: “You’ll think I am crazy, but I would make sure that the two tiny balls on the right from the face are placed exactly vertically, one above the other, like the pair on the left below the stone. This drives me nuts! Even though I did it kind of on purpose, to fight my perfectionism, it seems I am not there yet – it bothers me. But I am treating this as a message to myself, which I simply don’t really understand yet. As for making it again – no. I never repeat my narrative, one-of-a-kind pieces. It is mostly because when I make a piece it is like finishing a sentence that I needed to say. It is said. I don’t feel a need to repeat myself – the bubble is gone.”
Learn more about why Anna enters challenges, her advice to others about challenging themselves, and which of her pieces she feels are her best technically and emotionally in Part Two of this interview, coming next month!
About Anna Mazoń
Anna lives in the beautiful city of Kraków, Poland. It’s a UNESCO listed city rich in history, with a lot of monuments, art related places and a totally magical vibe. Anna says “I was born here, I’ve lived here my whole life, have my studio here, and I am totally in love with this place!”
You can find Anna online at several sites:
annamazon.com
Facebook: AnnaMazonJewellery
Instagram: annamazon.jewellery
For her jewellery sculpted in metal clay and then cast:
drakonaria.com and Facebook: drakonaria
Anna’s teaching-related content:
drakonarium.com and Facebook: Drakonarium
