Deborah Werbner
The object as memento evokes emotional and sensory recollections.
I create “object portraits”, narrative artifacts, drawn from memory storytelling that hint towards some underlying significance for the viewer. Stories are either told by sitters or collected from newsworthy events, travel encounters, literature or poetry. These resonant artifacts are contemplations upon the stories, connecting object and memory.
Sometimes the objects are functional – as adornment or for the table; sometimes they are purely reflective; other times they provoke political commentary. But they nearly always subvert expectations and bring the onlooker back to an underlying dialogue, stimulating thought and providing opportunities for meaning.
Education
2011 MA by Project (Practice based Research) (Art, Design & Visual Culture) (Distinction) Cass Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, London
2009 HND (Silversmithing, Jewellery & Allied Crafts) Cass Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, London
Awards
2012 Goldsmiths’ Company, Getting Started 2012
2011 Jewellery Connections ERDF Grant participant
2010 Distinction Licentiate Society Designers Craftsmen (SDC)
2009 Herbie Prize for Art Medal Making a Contemporary Political Statement, BAMS Student Competition
2009 British Jewellers’ Association (BJA) 1st Prize Certificate Body of Work for HND Design
2009 Goldsmiths’ Company 2nd Prize Award Major Project, HND Design
2008 Finalist and Exhibitor Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Awards
2006 Finalist and Exhibitor, V & A Museum ‘Inspired By’ Competition
Selected Exhibitions
2013 ‘Ferrous’ as part of Dialogue Collective, Velvet Da Vinci Gallery, San Francisco, USA
‘Five0Eight’ on Coffee Break as part of Five0Eight, Projektraum Streitfeld, Munich, Germany (Schmuck)
Society of Designer Craftsmen, Designer Crafts at the Mall, Mall Galleries London
2012 Silver Day Exhibition Weekend, International Exhibitors Terfkelder, Schoonhoven, Holland
‘Creativity, Craftsmanship & Community’, Goldsmiths’ Centre, London
‘AinR’ Nine London Makers, Galerie 84GHz, Munich ‘The Walking Table’, Galerie Silber-Sommer at Internationale Handwerksmesse, Munich
2011 Cass Postgraduate Exhibition, The Cass Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, London
New Designers 2011 Business Design Center, London
2010 Poster Presentation 7th Design and Emotion Society Conference, Chicago, Illinois
FIDEM (International Art Medal Foundation) (BAMS)
Group Exhibition, XXXI Congress, Tampere, Finland
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, BAMS Student Competition Exhibition, Cardiff, Wales
SDC Designer Crafts at the Mall, Mall Galleries London
2009 British Museum, BAMS Student Competition Exhibition London
Publications
2012 Schmuck 2012, Findings Magazine, Spring 2012
Traces: Memories, Emotions, Stories, Objects, manuscript and poster 7th Design and Emotion Society Conference, October 2010