A shape suggested by one artist becomes an idea for another. A motif or a color sparks new questions; a piece opens up a new direction. With Le Voyage Amical, an adventure initiated by Marianne Anselin during Parcours Bijoux 2023, four contemporary jewelry artists build a collaboration around this interplay of ideas. Each contributes words, images, shapes, or research in progress that the others can draw on to develop their own jewelry.
Creative Exchanges Around the Herbarium
In 2023, Marianne Anselin, Caroline Volcovici, Julie Usel and Claire Wolfstirn explored the mysterious strategies living organisms use to sustain life and survive. Seeds offer an initial avenue for exploration: as they disperse, some cling to animals’ fur or people’s clothing, while others are carried by the wind. For Parcours Bijoux 2026, two more artists join the adventure: Isabelle Hertzeisen, and Lucia Vogt. Their research centers on the herbarium, an album in which plants are preserved for observation and study. The artists continue to exchange ideas remotely, following the rhythms of their studio work and walks. Isabelle Hertzeisen transforms the outlines of pressed leaves and flowers into the large, sculptural links of her Herbier necklace. Julie Usel creates her Boutons d’or, flattened, hammered flowers. Marianne Anselin continues her exploration of natural forms made from mechanical objects: screws flattened at the forge, then notched with a saw, become black flower earrings. A wing nut becomes a pendant. Lucia Vogt’s multicolored brooches introduce other forms that evoke chewing gum.
Echoes in Plant Architecture
As the exchanges continue, Marianne Anselin recalls a completely burned forest where tiny green shoots were emerging. This leads to her Vitalité ring, made of wrought iron and punctuated with vivid green enamel accents. Isabelle Hertzeisen picks up on these colors in her Herbier necklace. Inspired by a fig tree suffering from drought, Claire Wolfstirn envisions the La vie à Coup Sûr brooch, a rose made of copper and iron, as well as her Parenchyme pendants in blued steel—the name refers to the areas between the leaf veins. With her Nervus folie bracelet, Marianne Anselin takes the opposite approach, focusing on the veins left behind in decomposing leaves. She imprints their patterns onto copper. The two artists’ explorations echo each other, drawing attention to different parts of the same plant structure.
The exhibition Le Voyage Amical echoes another exhibition at Parcours Bijoux 2026: A Pool in the Ocean, organized by The Pool ~ Amsterdam Jewelry Collective. Each member was invited to collaborate with two others, taking inspiration from the structure of H₂O. Le Voyage Amical is far from over. See you at the next stops along the way.
Le Voyage amical, a Franco-Swiss Getaway, October 3–31, 2026, at Galerie Kara.
Banner image: Isabelle Hertzeisen – Carlines necklace in blackened 925 silver with enamel (2026) / Marianne Anselin – Vitalité ring in pure wrought iron, 925 silver, and enamel paint (2026)
For more on the Parcours Bijoux 2026 program, click here.
