I MADE IT MYSELF
The Age
Saturday March 20, 2010
WHO Barbara van Oost and Ben Paola, of Klei.WHAT Double-sided rivet rings WHERE klei.com.au; Craft Victoria, 31 Flinders Lane, city; Design a Space, 142 Chapel Street, Windsor.HOW MUCH $159 WE WANTED to make a ring that was elegant, robust and could be worn every day. They€™re made from porcelain and sterling silver, but we didn€™t want to just stick a piece of ceramic to a silver band, and were more interested in having the two components fi t together as seamlessly as possible. It€™s always fun when people realise the ring face spins and has different patterns on both sides. We always do something bold with a strong graphic feel on one side and a softer more fl oral pattern on the other so people feel like they are getting two different rings. When making the rings, it€™s always diffi cult to pierce the disc perfectly through the middle; one millimetre out and they can€™t be used.If the openings on both sides aren€™t symmetrical, the disc will not spin freely.Barbara and I met while working for the Rotterdam Dance Group, a modern dance company in the Netherlands. While dancing, we both got into ceramics but never contemplated it would become our work; we both thought when we fi nished performing we would retrain ourselves into €śserious€ť careers. Overall we love our jobs.We are a two-person operation and that limits the amount of work we can produce, but we have decided to remain small so as not to compromise on design or quality.Sometimes devoting time to production work is a challenge when you get an idea for a new piece and want to experiment.
© 2010 The Age
Share This