{"id":38403,"date":"2025-09-30T01:29:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T23:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefrenchjewelrypost.com\/?post_type=style&p=38403"},"modified":"2025-10-27T16:02:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T15:02:34","slug":"aurelie-guillaume-illustrated-enamel-contemporary-jewelry","status":"publish","type":"style","link":"https:\/\/thefrenchjewelrypost.com\/en\/style\/aurelie-guillaume-illustrated-enamel-contemporary-jewelry\/","title":{"rendered":"Aur\u00e9lie Guillaume, illustrated enamel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Influenced by comics and fashion illustration, Canadian artist Aur\u00e9lie Guillaume brilliantly revives the ancient art of enamel. She invites us into a humorous world populated by colorful, whimsical characters.<\/p>\n

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Sandrine Merle. You were destined to be a fashion illustrator. How did you discover the technique of enamel?<\/strong>
\nAur\u00e9lie Guillaume.<\/strong> Like jewelry, a little by chance. I took an introductory class at the \u00c9cole de Joaillerie de Montr\u00e9al and it was love at first sight. I was fascinated by this silica-based powder that, once fired, becomes a smooth, glossy, vitreous surface. Enamel offers endless color possibilities in a way gold and gemstones don\u2019t. That said, it\u2019s temperamental\u2014and full of both happy and not-so-happy surprises. During my specialization at NSCAD University (Canada), I tried different techniques\u2014grisaille, plique-\u00e0-jour, champlev\u00e9, and more\u2014until I found the one that suited me best: cloisonn\u00e9. I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s easier, but the fine silver wires that partition each color area let me keep the lines razor-sharp.<\/p>\n

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Sandrine Merle. Clouds with eyes, eccentric characters, bright colors, humorous messages. Your world resembles a children\u2019s story. Where do you draw your inspiration?<\/strong>
\nAur\u00e9lie Guillaume.<\/strong> I sometimes work to exhibition-led themes\u2014as with\u00a0The Alchemical Egg<\/em>\u00a0at Hannah Gallery (Barcelona), where each of three pieces represents a stage in the alchemical quest to turn lead into gold. Otherwise, I draw on everyday life: flowers in a park, insects darting through the grass, the feeling of calm after waking from a beach nap. My latest table pieces\u2014tabletop works\u2014evoke an imaginary picnic.<\/p>\n

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Sandrine Merle. In 2023, the series\u00a0Les Masques Amoureux<\/em>\u00a0marked a turning point in your work.<\/strong>
\nAur\u00e9lie Guillaume.<\/strong> Having reached the limits of cloisonn\u00e9 for my purposes,<\/p>\n

I chose to approach enameling differently: using wet-enamel application techniques, exploring texture, and letting the material speak more freely. I decided to welcome surprises\u2014good or bad\u2014along with atypical textures as compelling as smooth, shiny surfaces, and even the softening or blurring of my drawings. The brooch You Make Me Feel Like Sugar has a texture that is both rough and very soft (a sugar-coat effect); on Crushing Hard, the slightly softened flowers feel all the more lifelike. I let the material lead me\u2014just as I let my feelings for the person I had just met. I even wrote bold messages such as \u201cI\u2019d like to bite your butt.\u201d This was also when precious materials appeared: 24-karat gold beads mimicking freckles and a cloud with diamond eyes, recreating the dazzling reflections of sea and sun.<\/p>\n

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Sandrine Merle. You liken working with enamel to a form of meditation.<\/strong>
\nAur\u00e9lie Guillaume.<\/strong> Take the necklace\u00a0Le secret des Marguerites<\/em>, a ruffle of 102 small flowers: I sawed them from metal one by one, soldered each onto its little cone, then enameled them before stringing them on their cord. They belong to the same family, yet each has a different face. I loved this endlessly repetitive work, alone in the calm of my studio.<\/p>\n

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Sandrine Merle. At just 35, you\u2019ve been invited to numerous exhibitions worldwide, and your pieces are in museum collections.<\/strong>
\nAur\u00e9lie Guillaume.<\/strong> It\u2019s a tremendous honor, and I\u2019m deeply moved. I was especially touched that my brooch Nous finirons tous au fond de la mer<\/em> (We All End Up at the Bottom of the Sea<\/em>) entered the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts\u2014the city where I was born and where my parents met. Behind that slightly melancholic title and the figure playing with underwater creatures lies an intimate reference: a memory of my father, who died when I was a child, and the symbolic act of scattering his ashes. I didn\u2019t want or understand it at the time; today, I see it differently.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sandrine Merle. Who are your references in enamel?<\/strong>
\nAur\u00e9lie Guillaume.<\/strong> Ren\u00e9 Lalique and Carl Faberg\u00e9, of course, but also the 12th-century Limoges masters, whom I recently discovered at the Mus\u00e9e de l\u2019\u00c9v\u00each\u00e9 in Limoges. They had only a coal-fired kiln and could control temperature only by watching the intensity of the flame. I also admire contemporaries like Jacqueline Ryan (England) and Aya Iwata (Japan).<\/p>\n

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Sandrine Merle.<\/strong> You have a loyal clientele of collectors. And yet you don\u2019t give in to the temptation to produce more.<\/strong>
\nAur\u00e9lie Guillaume.<\/strong> I don\u2019t make jewelry just to make jewelry. My sketchbooks are full, but not every drawing should become a jewel. Some years I create only five pieces, sold exclusively at Noel Guyomarc\u2019h\u2019s gallery. I want people to understand the meaning\u2014and the time\u2014behind both the conception and the making. For me, enamel is a quiet act of resistance to consumerism and obsolescence: objects unearthed after 2,000 years in perfect condition attest to that. I also need time to teach and pass the technique on, as others did for me; it\u2019s thanks to them that it has endured and that I can do this work today.<\/p>\n

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Related articles:<\/p>\n

Questions about contemporary jewelry\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

An enamel plaque by Alexis Falize acquired by the MAD Paris<\/a><\/p>\n

Jewelry: a plastic art<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Influenced by comics and fashion illustration, Canadian artist Aur\u00e9lie Guillaume brilliantly revives the ancient art of enamel. She invites us into a humorous world populated by colorful, whimsical characters.     Sandrine Merle. You were destined to be a fashion illustrator. How did you discover the technique of enamel? Aur\u00e9lie Guillaume. Like jewelry, a little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":38398,"template":"","tags":[2111],"class_list":["post-38403","style","type-style","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-contemporary-jewelry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAur\u00e9lie Guillaume, illustrated enamel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Canadian artist Aur\u00e9lie Guillaume revives the art of enamel. 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