Wild Waters, 2022, arm sculpture by Ute Decker, currently on show at Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery,
Photography Xavier Young"it's like japanese calligraphy, each piece is formed out of a single strip of metal in one continuous movement. after making a lot of prototypes, i try to use my hands without my brain taking over, i know it's finished when i get a visceral full stop." ute decker is explaining how she works and as she twists and turns to illustrate how she bends and shapes strips of silver and gold into sculpture for the body, i'm struck by how physical the process is. although we're talking on zoom, i can imagine her
creating the jewelry equivalent of a stream of consciousness in her london workshop.
her gallerist elisabetta cipriani also noticed the movement to her pieces when she first saw ute demonstrate her articulation necklace at art basel in 2013. "it's moveable, wearable art, very different to what i was used to," says elisabetta, who at that point specialized in fine art, "the wearability, femininity and technique behind her work spoke to me." the pair has been working together since 2014 and were already planning a solo show before the covid pandemic intervened, an enforced hiatus that allowed ute to continue to hone the concept for the exhibition using her freeform technique.
the work she developed falls into two streams. waves is an exploration of curves and undulations, created as sculptures in their own right which find flow on the body with unexpected ease. improvisations is a second strand of ute's research; playful, transformable jewelry made up of independent loops and structures which evolve as they are worn, illustrating individuality and interconnectedness.
