Neo-Gemstones

Boons, Sofie

Abstract

Researcher, jeweller and podcastmaker Sofie Boons spoke about her work on Tuesday 5th of March at 19h00, in the Showroom of Sint Lucas Antwerpen, Van Schoonbekestraat 143, Antwerpen.

You may know Sofie Boons as the Alchemical Jeweller. She researches scientific technologies and their material outcomes such as gold nano-particles, bacteria and most recently lab grown gemstones. What do these technological developments mean for the design practice? How does the role of the jewellery practitioner change when bio-design methodologies are incorporated? What differentiates a ‘natural’ material from a ‘synthetic’ material? And who decides?

Sofie Boons was trained as a jewelry designer/maker at the PXL-MAD in Hasselt, Belgium and the Royal College of Art, London. She attracted attention with the graphic way she depicted the fluctuations in the price of gold. Other work evolved around scent, and visualizing the invisible. She has now lived in the United Kingdom for many years, where she was the Head of Academy at the British Academy of Jewellery (BAJ) and now serves as governor. She has hosted the BAJ podcast since 2020, monthly interviewing people in the jewelry field and beyond on topics with relevance to the field. At the moment she divides her time between her own work and PhD-research in Bristol at the University of the West of England, and teaching at the Royal College of Art in London.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: Studio Sieraad
• Start Date: Mar 5, 2024
• End Date: Mar 5, 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 20, 2024
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11833407
• Publisher URL: https://antwerpart.be/agenda/lecture-studio-sieraad