Liv Blåvarp: Smykker - Strukturer i tre (Jewellery - Structures in Wood) Stuttgart, Germany: Arnoldsche Art Publishers 2017
This volume presents over 55 works from 2012–2017 by Norwegian jewelry artist Liv Blåvarp. Blåvarp works in a variety of woods, including maple, walnut, and palisander, and her jewelry pieces are notable for their flexibility and wearability. Born in 1956, she has been awarded several important prizes and awards including the Bavarian State Award, the Prince Eugen Medal, and the Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize. Her work is represented in museums throughout Europe, North America, and Australia.
Ylvisåker writes of the artist’s early shift from working with metal to wood in her introductory essay, “[Metal] lacked the warmth and tactile qualities Blåvarp was looking for and which later became such an important part of her artistic vocabulary. Art jewellery, on the other hand, more specifically necklaces, gave her a perfectly delimited challenge to work on: how to create a form and volume that does not just look like a piece of jewellery in a display case but that is also functional…”
From the publisher: “Cecilie Skeide is a Norwegian art historian working as a curator at Lillehammer Art Museum. She has been responsible for major exhibitions of contemporary and historical art and the decorative arts. Anne Britt Ylvisåker works as senior curator at KODE – Art Museums of Bergen, where she has chief responsibility for contemporary craft, textiles and ceramics.”