Sylvie Auvray on Loss, Discovery, and Meaning

Sylvie Auvray studied art in Montpellier and London but it was when she moved to Los Angeles approximately 25 years ago that she first started making jewellery. Today, she finds it impossible to separate her jewellery pieces from her wider artistic practice, which encompasses painting, ceramics, and bronze and aluminium sculpture.

Auvray works on various scales, with works ranging from the large to the miniscule. Whether in her wearable art or her masks, totems, and other sculptural creations, the artist combines primordial emotions with sharp form and strident colour. The hybrid beings that populate her work have a nostalgic narrative quality, drawing from childhood imagination and often blending both joyous and disturbing qualities.

Something that captivates Auvray the most about jewellery is its timeless quality remaining constant in character and meaning through the ages. In this interview, she tells us more about the meaningful relationship that jewellery often has with its owner.

Tamara: Can you remember a particular time when you lost a piece of jewellery?

Sylvie: I once lost one of my rings which was part of a set that I like to wear all together. I lost it in the streets next to a cemetery when the leaves were really deep. I went back the next day to look through all the leaves. I did a drawing of the ring and put it up on all the trees near this spot, and then a girl called me the day after to say she’d found the ring.

I was lucky but I should overcome my fear of losing jewellery because I think losing a piece can actually release you from something.

Tamara: When someone finds a lost piece of jewellery, do you think it still carries some sort of energy from the person who lost it?

Sylvie: Oh yeah, I am sure of it. I’m obsessed with objects and what they mean to people. For me, an object is not really an object it can carry so much more. And jewellery is so personal, which is why I love looking at old jewellery. It's like when you go to a shop and you can see clearly it's somebody's engagement ring or wedding ring. So yeah, I think jewellery carries something for sure. In a way, that’s what all my work is about.

Tamara: When did you first start making jewellery and what drew you to it?

Sylvie: I think it was about twenty-five years ago, when I moved to Los Angeles. I didn’t really have a studio, so I couldn't really make large works. My best friend at the time was making jewellery, so she started to show me how. Then I put my ceramic practice into it and started to make small sculptures that became pieces of jewellery.

“I think the main thing about jewellery is that it should give you self-confidence.”

– Sylvie Auvray

Tamara: How central do you see jewellery to be within your artistic practice?

Sylvie: For a while, I felt I had to separate my jewellery works from the rest of my practice but the more I live with them, I don’t think they are separate from my drawings or paintings or sculptures.

Tamara: Can you remember the first piece of jewellery you ever received?

Sylvie: I remember my parents gave me a necklace from my eighteenth birthday, but I kind of hated it. I also remember the first jewellery box that my grandmother gave me. I must have been quite young maybe 10. It was tiny, there was velvet inside and hooks to hang rings.

The box was empty, so I guess I felt I had to fill it in some ways. I remember a little dog carved in green stone. It must have been jade. And I remember finding a medal of the Virgin Mary on the floor and being totally fascinated by it.

Tamara: Do you often wear found or inherited items?

Sylvie: Usually, I don't like wearing jewellery that I find because it feels strange to wear someone else’s pieces. It's like wearing somebody else’s sneakers, or something like that it’s so intimate.

But I recently found a ring in the street. It was a very small ring, so I guessed it was for the pinky finger. I’ve always loved pinky rings. It wasn’t a very expensive ring, but I guess it meant something for the person who owned it, so I was reluctant to wear it but, in an act of courage, I put it around my finger.

Tamara: Did you feel comfortable wearing it?

Sylvie: It was a bit loose for me. One day, I came back home and I thought I’d lost it. I was actually kind of happy to have lost it, but then I found it again in my house.

Tamara: Has your relationship with jewellery changed over the course of your life and your career?

Sylvie: Yes, it’s changed because now I know how to make jewellery. So, when I look at a piece of jewellery, I see it differently because I can see the technique too. But I don't really buy other people’s jewellery I actually really like wearing my own.

Tamara: Should our jewellery pieces reflect who we are?

Sylvie: Yes, but everyone has to find that out themselves. If you put the same piece on someone else, it’s going to mean something else. It’s like an ingredient in a recipe. I think the main thing about jewellery is that it should give you self-confidence.