IRIS DESIREE CLAESSENS

Grey Sheep

irisdesireeclaessens

Location

maastricht / The Netherlands

University

maastricht academy of fine arts

Graduation year

2017

Main Manufacturing Countries

The Netherlands

Contact

Iris Desiree Claessens is a Dutch jewellery designer based in Maastricht, in the South of the Netherlands. She graduated in 2017 from the Maastricht Academy Fine Arts and Design and founded her jewellery label in 2018. She grew up in a house with a large garden in a village outside of the city. Through her upbringing and an inherent interest she learned to love the wonders of nature. She now translates this appreciation for nature into jewellery pieces. The style of the jewellery is a combination of centuries old goldsmithing techniques with a modern minimalist design.

By using a poetic and narrating approach she creates delicate work that makes you think about our natural world and the frailty of life. Iris lost her mother when she was 22 years old. Her work is about life and the passing of time. She creates an awareness of our mortality through use of natural elements. Iris uses jewellery as kind of emotional statement. Her feelings become her jewellery.

Latest Collection

MOTHER OF PEARL

The MOTHER OF PEARL collection is about the sea and its shores. About the contrast between its peaceful floaty mood and tempestuous storms. It is about the feeling of standing alone on an endless shoreline with the unrelenting noise of waves curling into the sand. About something that cannot be controlled, something that has been there long before you, and will be there long after you are gone. About the beautifully slow natural process of grinding objects across the seabed resulting in perfectly smooth shapes. I formed the jewellery in this collection after these shapes created by the sea. The collection is made of 14 and 18K red gold with various shapes of pearls and black diamonds.