Lokal: Where do you draw inspiration for the design language of your jewellery and its creation?

Minna Arponen: My biggest source of inspiration is my own everyday life and the surprising details it contains. I give a lot of space to my imagination and experience the creation of something new as a kind of play with materials. Words and sayings also play an important role, especially in the beginning stages of new works. I love the richness of the Finnish language and the endless amount of puns!

L: What are some important principles for you in working and manufacturing processes?

M.A.: I’ve noticed that the longer I’ve worked with jewellery, the harder it is for me to create anything purely from a visual standpoint. My mind is looking for a concept and a whole, where every choice, decision, material and form are connected. That’s why it can take a long time to create new works, and even at the moment I have several different pieces on my desk, waiting for solutions that feel right.

It is important for me to experience the freedom of play while working. However, it is not easy to achieve that state of mind in the serious and busy life of an adult.

Materials and their durability are also an absolute basic principle for me. Currently, I mainly use small glass beads that are made in the Czech Republic and Japan. It’s important to me to create jewellery that lasts and doesn’t wear out, or change from what I designed. Along with glass beads, I use silver as my material, because it is pleasant to work with and it can be easily recycled and used again.

L: What kind of relationship do you have to jewellery?

M.A.: I experience jewellery art as my own art form, because unlike other art forms, it is in direct contact with the human body, and does not have material boundaries in the same way as other traditional art forms. Perhaps it is precisely the very difficulty of defining jewellery art which is what fascinates me. A work can be jewellery art through its size, material or shape, and at the same time it can be beheld as conceptual art or sculpture.

In my opinion, jewellery art is far too undervalued and forgotten, especially here in Finland. Unlike other traditional art forms, art jewellery can be worn or taken with you, creating a deeper, more personal connection to the piece. I am grateful for Lokal’s support in art jewellery, and for giving space to many talented jewellery artists.

L: What made you want to work in jewellery? What significance do materials have in your design and production processes?

M.A.: I feel that throughout my life I have been a craftsman in some way or at least experienced a great attraction to making things by hand. Before my studies as a jewellery designer at the Lahti Institute of Design, from where I graduated in 2019, I studied and graduated from the Watchmaker’s School, where for the first time I was able to get to know and work with different metals thoroughly for three years. Studies that require a very precise and steady hand, and making pieces by hand, both felt like my thing, but I longed for freedom from precise, technical requirements. Precious metals classes at school and making jewellery from silver offered a perfect combination for my interests and talents.

My long background as a craftsman can be seen in my work even today. The manufacturing steps that require precision and perseverance, for example in my pieces made of glass beads, are a rewarding and enjoyable way of working for me. It’s important to me to make my jewellery from start to finish myself, and precisely with handcraft methods. Many work steps that seem monotonous and require long-term repetition work for me like meditation. One by one, I tied the glass beads in place with a crochet hook, so that the whole row of beads represents my breath and the time I have been able to spend working on the piece.

Shop: Minna Arponen’s Works

Explore: Lokal Creators