Martina Kocianova

The Trip
Mushrooms can be poisonous or healing or mind-altering. Drawing inspiration from her childhood when her mother often took her mushroom foraging, Martina’s collection takes us on a journey inspired by the fungus domain. Through portals made out of jewellery, she invites us into an alternative reality in which we encounter pieces that allude to different stages of life from childhood to death. Playful, imaginative and colourful, they combine traditional techniques, such as engraving and lapidary, with the ingenuity of mushroom mycelium. Her pieces occupy a liminal space between myth and reality, between beauty and danger.

BIO:

I am a jewellery designer, maker and a recent Central Saint Martins alumni. My inspiration comes from my childhood imagination and memories spent in Slovakia. The fusion of Czechoslovak fairy tales and spending time in nature inspired me to create fantastical jewellery, serving as an extension to the body.

It has been my dream for quite some time to create a mushroom-inspired collection, to successfully develop a mushroom mycelium material I can set inside my jewellery. In the manufacturing process, I focused on traditional techniques with the ingenuity of mushroom mycelium. The Mycelium grows inside of the jewellery and symbolises tiny worlds and planets. While Mycelium and the study of mycology are an endless inspiration for my work, I also enjoy making colourful and organic jewellery. I believe that every piece of jewellery I make is as unique as the person who adorns it. I, therefore, find it fulfilling to create an emotional connection between the two.

I have a particular focus on traditional jewellery techniques, such as hand engraving, stone carving and stone setting and the study of traditional Japanese techniques. Because of which I am currently doing further research in Japan until December 2022. After that, I will be based in London United Kingdom as well as Bratislava, Slovakia, my home city. plan to focus on building my brand as well as creating contemporary jewellery and installations inspired by the fairyland. For further updates, please subscribe to my newsletter on my website: https://martinakocianova.com