Throughout the duration of our current exhibition “Holy Tools!“, the blog of LA Joaillerie invites you to discover the artists participating in the exhibition. Through a tool-Portrait, discover their considerations on tools, their views on crafts and handmaking.
Clara Niubò’s experience in product design has taught her that perfection and functionality have to be in every creation. As well as this, her watercolours introduce herself in worlds of brightly coloured stains. A lover of the present moment, she is guided by being in the now as it won’t ever be repeated. So she moves about in this paradise of colour combining the best that the proven disciplines offer and her way of understanding life. Positivity and happiness, colour and adventurous courage are characteristics that come through in her work and can be seen in herself too.
– If you were a tool ?
I would be a saw, simply because it does allow any turning back. It’s immediate and you can only look forward. You can plan and think before sawing, but you can also be spontaneous. What attracts me to the saw is that at the precise moment when you act, you’re in the «here and now».
– If you were a gesture ?
I would be an intuitive gesture, coming out of oneself, from the bottom of the heart, without knowing why. A spontaneous gesture.
– What is your first or most significant memory related to tools ?
A brush. Drawing with many colours and getting dirty.
– Which is your favorite tool and why ?
I love pliers in all their forms. Cutting, flat, rounded, curved pliers, etc.
I also love scissors, they allow to work the metal and create an infinity of shapes. Absolutely fun.
– Why did you choose working with my hands (and brain!) and what does it provide you ?
I love the contact with the material, feeling the material with which I work and link it with the mind and body. Thus, fluidity and material are transformed according to the dialogue between the brain, the hands and the object. And often the result surprises me, as if it did not belong to me, as if it were the creation of someone else.
– How do you consider the growing importance of technologies and machines (modelisation, laser, etc) and the vanishing of ancient know-hows ? How does this affect your practice or extend your possibilities ?
New technologies are interesting and useful. They make life easier for the craftsman. They should help and empower craftsmen and help preserve trades. All handcrafted objects have a soul and imperfections, which a machine can never reproduce.
