When I met Eva V. for the first time I was immediately taken in by her easy and open friendliness - and by the amazing necklace she wore. I was - I hope, discreetly - gazing at it while we talked and my mind was wandering and wondering whether I had ever seen such extraordinary and individual pieces before. I had not. Next time we met, she wore another one and the third time I finally asked her, where and how she had found those one of a kind costume jewellery pieces, one more beautiful than the other. Easy: she produces them herself.
That mystery explained, I wanted to see and know more about them and Eva very kindly invited me to her Atelier, where I could hardly know where to look first, for all the colours, semi precious stones and very originally constructed necklaces and brooches of a very unique beauty.
Once you have attentively looked at a piece made by her, you will instantly recognise it - they are very much their own style and immediately recognisable. I find they remind me of the late antique mosaics of Ravenna and the glamour of Venice, I see a hint of South American Aztec aesthetics and discover a well-known and dear southern German "baroque" feeling, a love for earthy colours and dazzling stones - all of that put together delicately in rows and rows of amazing colour combinations and timeless elegance. If I would not know better, one could think that Dolce and Gabbana in their latest discovery of Byzanz and its riches might have been inspired by Eva's pieces before!
What makes me so convinced that her work is Art and not just some necklace you put on for a summer and throw away, is the fact that they suit all ages and all persons - always a sure sign of quality and sincerity - and they do "make" each and everybody an individual in her own right. The pieces are very present, but do not overwhelm the personality of the woman who wears them, they make her more beautiful, more true, more present. Put one such necklace on a beautiful girl of 20, with a crisp white t-shirt, jeans and great shoes and she is perfectly dressed - put it on a hard working director in her costume and you need nothing more to impress the board room and mark your point - put it around the neck of a wonderful old lady with white hair in her cashmere turtle-neck and she will look adorable and unforgettable. Short: If you have an inclination to the evasive idea of Chic, here you go. Think of Diana Vreeland or good old Coco Chanel and you get the idea - the ladies who wear her pieces love them and know that their piece is unique.
I think a part of the secret lies in this uniqueness of each piece - there is never a second one, all of them are one of a kind and made by Eva alone - she sources the materials all by herself and the production process is something which would make it impossible to produce this jewellery mechanically - sometimes the way to put strings together or to include a stone at a place where it needs to be can take days and demands careful consideration.
The good news and also a reason for writing this post is that until the 24th of May there is a rare opportunity to see her pieces at the beautiful Gallery premises of Lin Deletaille in the heart of Brussels, right next to Park Egmont.
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| Eva V and Lin Deletaille |
Eva herself will be there in the late afternoons with her very own touch of picking something up and draping it around your neck which wants you do scream with joy and chic. I could go on and on - better, if you have the opportunity of being in or around Brussels, go there and have a look yourself.....
I think her work deserves to be known not only in Brussels, but far beyond.
I think her work deserves to be known not only in Brussels, but far beyond.
Gallery Deletaille - 32, Rue aux Laines - 1000 Brussels
Telephone +32 476 69 81 79 - l.deletaille@gmail.com
