Born in Germany in 1962 and currently living south of Munich, Bettina Speckner was a student of Otto Künzli and Daniel Spoerri. She collaborated with the latter on an exhibition at the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim in 2014.
In her jewellery Speckner has a talent for juxtaposing elements that both dialogue and establish a special conversation. The starting point is often a found image. In this tintype, for example, a man and a dwarf can be seen at first glance… But the dwarf is actually a pasteboard column, on which the man’s coat and hat have been carefully placed. The designer has hidden the man’s face by attaching a rock crystal to the image. But by choosing a double crystal, like two heads together, she accentuates the confusion felt at first glance and reinforces the photographer’s staging. It is clever and funny. On the back of the brooch, a dried flower under glass underlines the nostalgic feeling.
Speckner’s work was presented at mudac in 2008 as part of the exhibition From hand to hand, passing on skill and knowledge in European contemporary jewellery.
