Chloe Romanos OCG – portfolio

Contact the artist

https://www.cloeleajewellery.com

cloelea@aol.com

Artist information

From Archaeology to Jewellery Artist

I am a French expatriate living in a tiny Oxfordshire stone cottage, at the foot of White Horse hill, where I design and create handcrafted jewellery from my home studio, using traditional goldsmithing techniques. I like to sit at my workbench, surrounded by my tools, with music in the background, that is where my inspiration comes to life, in this little bubble. 

As a child I wanted to be an archaeologist, discovering amazing forgotten treasures, and at the same time I was also attracted to creativity and the world of crafts. I wanted to find a different way to express emotions and to communicate ideas and feelings using the body as an interconnexion between us and the world.

I studied art history and archaeology in Paris, went to almost all the museums, learning about Renaissance, Art Nouveau, the Greek Bronze Age… While I was analysing in great details the texture of handmade pottery at the museum of Mycenae (cited in Homer’s poems), in Greece, it became a fascination for me to look at the worn, rough, pitted, crackled textured surfaces of ancient artefacts. The way time had transformed them into something very different was for me as much interesting and beautiful as the initial object. Whilst doing a PhD on travelling artisans, I decided that I wanted to learn an ancient craft: use similar techniques and tools, and actually experience what I had been studying.

When I discovered silversmithing I was mesmerised by the ‘magic’ of metal transformation, with almost endless possibilities. I studied silversmithing and jewellery making at the Jewellery School in Birmingham. Each learning step I took was a uncovering journey. I like the toughness of the material: you need to use some strength to work with it, and I also like that it is messy (like a child playing outside!), your hands are dirty, you end up with tools everywhere around your bench and silver or gold dust on your fingers. My formal training was short, I learnt the basic techniques and then I trained myself, with trial and error, practice and being a bit daring with my abilities and my design ideas. I wanted to be able to find my own style, that “voice” I was looking for.

My work has been showcased in exhibitions including the British Museum and the Royal Cornwall Museum, the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock. A selection of my creations are exhibited at West OX Arts Gallery, in Bampton (Oxfordshire), White Chalk Gallery, in Devizes (Wiltshire), Waterperry Gardens Gallery (Oxfordshire), as well as other temporary venues.

READ MORE ABOUT CHLOE IN THESE FEATURE ARTICLES FROM OX MAGAZINE :

NOVEMBER 2022

https://www.artweeks.org/festival/media/2022/meet-jeweller-chloe-romanos…

MAY 2021

http://www.artweeks.org/sites/default/files/news/ox_may_2021_art_inspire…

Exhibition information

Chloe’s creations are an expression of emotions, fragments of experiences lived, inspired by treasures that are all around us

I use traditional goldsmithing techniques to create contemporary rings, necklaces and earrings, using recycled precious metals (sterling silver and 9ct gold) and gemstones, especially opal, labradorite, garnet, moonstone, agate, amethyst.

My work is ever-changing because I work differently with each project, in design inspiration and in techniques used; and also I like to create one of a kind pieces, that I cannot make twice ! Cloelea Jewellery is about imagining and creating items that are small pieces of wearable art, statement jewellery that stands out on the body. They are like little messages or poems to wear or to offer to someone.

My Collection ‘Carnet de Voyage’ is about the emotions spilling out of us when we find ourselves in a foreign land, the difference in the density of the air, in the shimmering of the light, in the scent flowing through the pores of our skin, in the glowing of surfaces, in the inviting sounds and colours. I have an improvisational approach to fabricating shapes, creating an imbalance and correcting it using colour arrangements and adding stones with unusual shapes.

‘Echoes of the Past’ is a Collection inspired by my training in Archaeology.  I like to imagine vibrations of ancient cities, buried treasures, earthware crumbles, reaching the metal surface to create texture, traces of what once was. I am constantly looking for new ways of creating marks on the surface of the metal, as well as distorting its structure through controlled melting.

My ‘Fly Away’ Collection has a more structured approach to creating, and is influenced by my Art History studies in Paris. I usually have a starting point idea or influence, whether it is Art Nouveau, Arabic calligraphy, mythologies of birds, or to approach societal and environmental issues in a symbolic way. I start from a drawing or a concept which I usually translate into dramatic lines in the shape of wings or feathers !