A panel appointed by the Finnish Goldsmith Association has chosen the Goldsmith of the Year since 1987. Goldsmiths, silversmiths, jewellers or engravers who have displayed particular professional competence are all eligible for nomination to the panel.
A pine forest shrouded in mist, a person and sculpturesque jewellery that evokes strange echoes. It is from these elements that Eero Hintsanen constructs his intriguing works, narrating Finnish stories from a dark and gloomy angle.
Both a master goldsmith and master of arts, Hintsanen traverses the worlds of sculpture and jewellery design. As the designer of the Chao & Eero duo, he works on not only ranges of jewellery, but also on unique, large pieces, whose atmospheres are full to the brim with old-world mystique.
Hintsanen prefers to work with silver, which never fails to reveal an interesting roughness and coarse nature as he works with it. A piece of jewellery can consist of dozens of components cast from silver, with a base of hand-sculpted wax. The focus is not on purity, or a shiny finish, but instead different, dark oxidised or white
fine silver surfaces.
To complete the narrative, all elements are combined: the jewellery, items, models and photographs come together to form a captivating whole, which is, to its creator, always the prototype for the next, bigger piece.
www.chaoandeero.com
