‘YESTERDAY IS A DIFFERENT DAY’
Lisa JUEN, 2009

In my current series of work, I am strongly interested and driven by contrasts.

With a move from Europe to China in 2007, it might be obvious that the ingredients of my work derive from the new influences that now surround me. The differences that can be found in the cultural backgrounds, the diversity of people and the new way of living nourish my thinking.

The contrasts of traditional & modern, old & new, male & female, growth & decay, fake & void, intrigue me and are mirrored in my pieces that find their centre point in the imagery of the flower-selling-ladies of Shanghai’s streets.

These women seem to belong to a different century, they seem to be witnesses of another time but are still perfectly capable of coping with the speed of a modern world. Both, the women and the flowers, can be seen on a similar level of appreciation: They seem to be delicate and vulnerable but just know too well how to dull their audience with a sweet scent that reaches from delight to intolerability.

The female notion that accompanies the being of a flower, its power, bloom, playfulness and seductiveness, even up to the suspicion of/and being fake inspires my making, being opposed to natural processes, time and decay. 

The world around us changes, mixes, grows, becomes a melting pot of different people and cultures. This development offers a lot of advantages in terms of communication and exchange. Globalization helps us to unite the world, but also threatens to homogenize difference and individuality.

‘Higher, faster, better’ seems to be the idea that is settled in the human mind, being influenced by advertisement and stimulus satiation. The outside world becomes more and more important and in turn the internal world, developing one’s own uninfluenced ideas, seems to loose its value. For the individual to find a way to break out of that dynamic becomes more and more difficult. In a time of satellite systems, mobile phones, identity cards and CCTV surveillance, a physical escape is doomed to remain a dream. While the adventurers of ancient times could look at the horizon and imagine, dreaming today is interfered with by skyscrapers and television broadcasts.

One way of escape I think, can be found in a self-created realm of fantasy; there one might find a way of feel free, can indulge one’s needs and desires.

My work is concerned with the idea of finding access to the world of dreams, desires and wishes. I view my pieces as witnesses of experiences made in reality, but being transferred to a place of fantasy. The pieces are meant to offer the viewer access points, pathways and doors to the world of dreaming and the inner self.

There we find the resources and strength needed to carry on living in reality.
Without dreams, one becomes a robot. 

Lisa Juen, 1983, Homburg/Saar, Germany.

Education:
2006-2007 Master of Arts, Jewellery, Silversmithing and Related Products BCU, Birmingham, Institute of Art & Design, Birmingham, UK. Distinction.
2006 Gesellenprüfung, Goldschmied in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. (Goldsmith Apprenticeship Exam in Idar-Oberstein, Germany).
2005-2006 BA (Hons), Jewellery and Silversmithing BCU, Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, Birmingham, UK. First Class Honours.
2003-2005 Vordiplom, Edelstein- und Schmuckdesign, Fachhochschule Trier, Fachbereich Idar-Oberstein, Germany. (Prediploma, University of Applied Gemstone and Jewellery Design, Idar-Oberstein,Germany).

Exhibitions and Prizes: 
2009: “Brilliantly Birmingham Retrospective” Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK | BKV-Price Finalist with exhibition at the Bayerische Kunstgewerbeverein, Kunstmesse Muenchen and the 62. Internationale Handwerksmesse, Munich, Germany | “Wearable Art & Non-Functional Jewellery” Two Cities Gallery, Shanghai, China | SOFA WEST, Santa Fe, USA. Represented by Charon Kransen Arts | “The JAMES Exchange” Exhibition at the Atelier Klarastrasse, Munich, Germany
2008 “非匠，Non-Craftsman” Exhibition at Nooca, Nan Jing, China | BKV-Price Finalist with exhibition at the Bayerische Kunstgewerbeverein, Kunstmesse Muenchen and the 61. Internationale Handwerksmesse, Munich, Germany | “Project/Product” Jewellery Exhibition at 18K Gold Tone, Portland, Oregon, USA | “Masters & Protegés” Jewellery Exhibition in Itami and Tokyo, Japan | “Beauty of the Lost”, Contemporary Jewellery & Art Exhibition at Gallery Star Space, Shanghai, China | “JAMES on stage”, Exhibition at the Atelier Klarastrasse, Munich, Germany | “Design City”, Birmingham, UK.
2007 “Brilliantly Birmingham 2007”, Exhibition in the Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK | “24 Hour Project”, Ars Ornata Jewellery Conference in Manchester, UK | “Inside Out” Student Competition and Exhibition in Manchester, UK | First Prize at the Louisa Anne Ryland Competition and Exhibition at the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, UK | “Dear Jewellery Pal” Exhibition in Birmingham at the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design and in Idar-Oberstein at the Fachhochschule Trier, Edelstein- und Schmuckdesign, Germany. 
2006 Commendation at the Designer and Craftmanship Competition and Exhibition at the Goldsmith Hall, London, UK.

Projects:
2006-2007 Co-Curator, “Dear Jewellery Pal”, international exchange and exhibition project at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design and the Fachhochschule Trier, Fachbereich Edelstein- und Schmuckdesign, Idar- Oberstein, Germany. 

Bursaries:
2006 The William Dudley Trust, study bursary | AHRC, study bursary.

Work:
2007 Current Course Director of the Jewellery Foundation Course at AIVA, Academy of International Visual Arts, Shanghai, China. 

2009 The Conpendium Finale of Contemporary Jewellery Makers, Darling Publications, Cologne, Germany | ICS, City Beat, TV Show, 10th Feb 2009 http://tvshow.smgbb.cn/dianshi/shipin/chengshijiepai/2009-02-11/116032.html
2008 Comme A La Maison, Online magazine, July/August 2008, pages 50-52, Shanghai, China. http://203.194.220.70/calm/juilletaout08/Default.html | 悦己, Self Magazine, Nov. 2008, page 87, “Learn around the World”, Shanghai, China | 生活元素, Life Element Magazine, Sept. 2008, Issue 94, page 146, “Word of Contemporary Jewellery”, Hong-Kong, China.
2007 Ruth Claxton, Selector Text, www.axisweb.org/mastars/lisajuen | Review on the exhibition “Unnatural Selection” of Peter Chang at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK in “Findings”, ACJ, September Issue | Ruth Claxton, Selector Text, www.axisweb/graduates/lisajuen | Review on the exhibition “Unnatural Selection” of Peter Chang at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK in “Findings”, ACJ, September Issue. 

Alternative contact:

Lisa Juen
AIVA
4F, 66 North Shaanxi Road
Shanghai
China
Mob: 0086 15 800 822 962