Description

Helga Mogensen driftwood brooch #5, is characteristic of her ecological approach to making. Set into oxidised copper, all the materials are locally sourced. The brooch forms a bar: a clear and simple geometric form. The colour and texture come from natural materials: driftwood and fish leather.

Having trained in Edinburgh as a jeweller, Helga is now living back in Reykjavik.  She works with a variety of materials such as silver, steel, copper, brass, driftwood and fish skin. Her main focus in her art work is using her personal experience in life. She translates that into objects to wear, or even as wall pieces.

The different scales of work, varying from earrings to large scale neckpieces bring different challenges. Currently, she is using driftwood in combination with thread and sterling silver. Mogensen considers the thread, which creates a link between the driftwood pieces, to represent a human connection.

About the artist

Helga Mogensen is one of our GroundJewels artists. Every summer she takes a vacation with her family at a beach in the north of Iceland, where she finds inspiration in the closeness to nature, the remote location, and the lack of electricity. Her work portrays the personal aspects of her life, mirroring actions, behaviour, people, places, nature, and feelings. Mogensen also focuses on personal identity, the idea that each maker is an individual with his or her own reality to display. No two items can be the same.