about

Malene Kastalje is a Danish contemporary jewellery artist. She has a background as an experimental designer educated at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts - School of Design, The University of Art and Design Helsinki and Portsmouth College of Art. She is represented at The Danish Arts Foundation Jewellery Box Collection, Trapholt Museum of Fine Art, Alliages Collection and has received several fundings.
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“As a child, I used to go and explore an old villa, left there to crumble years before. Behind the flowery wallpaper, I found mouldy newspapers from the beginning of the century. Big fungi were growing in the moist corners, the once so majestic staircase in the hallway had fallen apart and the wooden floors had holes enabling me to climb down in the dark cellar. I often lost track of time in this quiet house full of lived lives.

The house is not there anymore. But the moods and impressions it left, have been kept inside me ever since. I am still exploring my surroundings relating it to what I go through in life. I swim through long seaweed and get lost in remote areas. Sensible and contemplative explorations of my inner and outer nature are an important part of the way I work and is reflected in the particular processes of making my pieces.

I have a preference for materials that I can stretch, bend and get to know the full potentials of. I mainly work in silicone mixing and combining it with other materials. For me, the clear substance functions as a raw plastically material, with organic abilities to absorb feelings and stories. I work intensely with colours and develop new techniques in order to manipulate the silicone to get a connection to my longings and desires, my repulsions and fears.

Through transformative material experiments, I approach a seductive alienness. I move in a tactile tension between repulsive and attractive, where poisonous growths are reminders of unknown layers. I am intrigued by a sensuous rawness and a state of disintegration. Moments from my past and my present are collected to create pieces that contain different sensations and abstract stories.

My pieces aim to communicate emotionally while reminding of something uncomfortable and imperfect, as well as triggering a feeling of preciousness. They are built up slowly, intuitively, sculpting and controlling the material, while in other parts of the process, letting the material take over and leaving space for a refined and subtle surprise. I examine myself and my surroundings as they turn out - ugly, painful, broken, chaotic, strong, vulnerable, beautiful and sensual.

I like to grasp the parts of ourselves that we hide in an attempt to make ourselves seem perfect, hoping that these sensitive moments will create an undefined bond between me, the object and the wearer. The pieces of jewellery can be perceived as an extension of the interior, materialized as a visible body growth”.

Malene Kastalje, 2017