Holding your awe in their claws: a crow brooch by Ilgiz
Ilgiz Fazulzyanov. Crow BroochWhat makes art Art?
Resistance to mass production? An emotional trigger? Originality? The artist’s identity?
Sometimes I catch myself thinking: if some of the talented artists had not become jewelry designers, what would they be doing instead? They would still be talented, successful and probably happy. The only ones to lose would be us—their admirers, followers and collectors who would miss out on exquisite pieces of this extraordinary, ancient and ever modern art.
With its laconic outline, absence of redundant, decorative details, classic, contrasting colors, elaborate composition of simple geometric shapes, and a strong, architectural silhouette that is both clean and clear, this enameled brooch—the dramatic and dynamic portrayal of a black and a white crow, holding a ruby-red stone in its talons—is not exactly typical for Ilgiz. Yet, it is a splendid reflection of all that he stands for: an artistic predilection for Art Nouveau, immaculate mastery of enameling, and the global idea behind art, plus the delicate conglomerate of a creator’s idea and the beholder’s profound emotional response.
The pieces by Ilgiz Fazulzyanov, a miracle worker from Tatarstan, a two-time winner—Champion of the Champions—of the International Jewellery Design Excellence Awards, are admired by art aficionados and craved by both private collectors and gallerists in Russia and around the globe.
No wonder.
The chance of finding such an ingenious expert in enameling is remote, and yet, the artist did not study jewelry professionally: his knowledge and mastery were earned independently, through passion and ambition, perfectionism and perseverance, by trial and error.
Aiming to surpass himself with every new piece, he studied many different enameling techniques—Japanese, French, English, Russian—and developed his own signature, unique methods, including, but not limited to, the firing of enamel at 950℃, rather than the ‘classic’ 700–800℃, which allows him to achieve a total fusion of glass with the golden surface, as well as a one-millimeter-thick plique-à-jour enamel.
Ilgiz believes that the art of jewelry stands at the confluence of all art forms and technologies. A jeweler must know the basics of drawing, painting, sculpture, perspective, architecture, chemistry, physics and mathematics. He must not be afraid to dirty his hands. He needs to make the metal submit to his rules—and be able to put it all together - to create the ultimate masterpiece.
Aiming at perfection, he can redo a piece of jewelry again and again until he gets the desired effect: color gradations and nuances in the enameled petals of a flower or the feathers of a crow’s wings, which correspond both to the reality and to his creative idea.
Ilgiz’s pieces are so immaculate that they do not have a flip side: the back of every pair of earrings, necklace, brooch or ring is on a par with the front side.
Besides, Ilgiz rarely works ‘around the stone’; rather, he builds the stones, whether precious or not, around the idea to achieve the maximum embodiment of his brainchild.
The crows from the brooch are facing opposite directions, each holding a symbolic stone in their talons. What does the white crow see in our past? Why is the black crow looking at our future?
Despite the menacing juxtaposition of colors, both crows look contemplative and calm. They mean no threat.
These pieces by Ilgiz Fazulzyanov are for genuine art connoisseurs, valuing not just the name of the brand and value of materials, but also the artistry, aesthetics and creativity.
A timeless and priceless investment, if you’re considering one.
Illustration by inkycubans.
Art must be understandable. Next, there is a question of feeling. A piece of art, in my opinion, must set your heart aflutter. Those are the rules I apply to myself, this is how I judge myself. Sometimes, after I finish a piece, I look at it and realize: the beauty is there, but there is no awe. That is not good enough for me.
From an interview to Vogue.ru
What makes art Art?
Resistance to mass production? A trigger to emotions? Uniqueness? Artist’s identity?
Sometimes I catch myself thinking: if some of the talented artists have not found themselves in jewelry, what would they do? They would still be talented, successful and probably happy. The only ones to lose would be us—the admires, the followers, the collectors, who would miss out on the most exquisite pieces of this extraordinary, ancient and ever modern art.
Laconic outline, absence of redundant, decorative details, classic, contrasting colors, elaborate composition of simple geometric shapes, strong, architectural, clear and clean silhouette. This enameled brooch—the dramatic and dynamic portrayal of a black and a white crow, holding a ruby-red stone in their talons—is not exactly typical for Ilgiz Fazulzyanov. Yet, it is a splendid reflection of all what he stands for: artistic predilection for Art Nouveau, immaculate mastery of enameling, and the global idea behind art, the delicate conglomerate of creator’s idea and beholder’s deep emotional response.
The pieces by Ilgiz Fazulzyanov, a miracle worker from Tatarstan, a two-time winner—Champion of the Champions—of the International Jewellery Design Excellence Awards, are admired by art aficionados and craved after by private collectors and gallerists in Russia and around the globe.
No wonder.
Where does design end and art begin? It is extremely complicated. For me, the art of jewelry starts when the artist’s thoughts, personality and philosophy manifest themselves.
From an interview to RIA Novosti
The chance of finding such an ingenious expert in enameling is next to impossible. And yet, the artist had never studied jewelry professionally: every bit of his knowledge and mastery was earned independently, through passion and ambition, perfectionism and perseverance, by trial and error.
Aiming to surpass himself with every new piece, he studied a multitude of enameling techniques—Japanese, French, English, Russian—and developed his own signature, unique methods, including, but not limited to, the firing of enamel at 950℃, rather than the ‘classic’ 700–800℃, which allows achieving a complete fusion of glass with the golden surface, as well as one-millimeter-thick plique-à-jour enamel.
Ilgiz believes that the art of jewelry stands at the confluence of all art forms and technologies. A jeweler must know the basics of drawing, painting, sculpture, perspective and architecture, chemistry, physics and mathematics, not be afraid to dirty his hands and make the metal submit to his rules—and be able to put it all together, to create the ultimate masterpiece.
Therefore, aiming towards perfection, he can redo a piece of jewelry again and again, until he gets the desired result: color gradations and nuances of enameled petals of a flower or feathers of crow’s wings, which fully correspond to the reality and his creative idea.
The pieces are so immaculate that they do not have a flip side: the back of every pair of earrings, necklace, brooch or ring is on par with the front side.
Besides, Ilgiz rarely works ‘around the stone’; rather, he builds the stones, whether precious or not, around the idea—to achieve the maximal embodiment of his brainchild.
The crows from the brooch are facing the opposite directions, holding a symbolic sanguine stone in their talons. What does the white crow see in our past? Why does the black crow look into our future?
Despite the menacing juxtaposition of colors, they both look contemplative and calm. They mean no threat. They only mean beauty.
The pieces by Ilgiz Fazulzyanov are for the genuine art connoisseur, valuing not just the name of the brand and price of materials, but rather the artistry, aesthetics and creativity.
A timeless and priceless investment, if you are considering one.
