“Broken Lines” Gold Ring By Emmy Van Leersum

Emmy Van Leersum was born in Hilversum, The Netherlands. She met fellow student, Gijs Bakker, while studying jewellery design in Stockholm. The two became creative partners for over twenty years. Together, they did pioneering work in jewellery design from the 1960s until Van Leersum’s untimely death in 1984. She was a hugely influential designer, both in her native country and throughout the world. A retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1980 reaffirmed her stature as a leader in minimalist jewellery design.
Van Leersum was trained at the Gerrit Rieveld Academy between 1958-62; later in 1962 she attended Konstfackskolan, in Stockholm, Sweden. Her first solo exhibition was in 1993, and has been shown most recently in 2014.

In describing her work Van Leersum said, “I’m not sure that my work really has that much to do with jewellery. It’s more to do with people, with shapes; getting away from simply buying gold. That tradition has never appealed to me. I think you should have a reason for wearing something. »

About Chi ha Paura… ? (chp…?)

chp…? jewelry is a brand. A collection. It’s jewelry in context. It’s a Gijs Bakker project.

chp…? jewelry, based in Amsterdam since 1996.
Designer and co-founder of Droog Design Gijs Bakker and Italian gallery owner Marijke Vallanzasca set up the foundation Chi ha paura…?, wanting to show the world that by producing conceptual design jewelry, a good piece of jewelry is more than a decorative accessory. For chp…?, the brands name since 2013, originality of the concept is central to the design and is supported by a fitting choice of material and technology. 
By showing that jewelry design evolves just like any other design discipline chp…? fills an existing void by making designer jewelry more widely accessible.

chp…? asks well-established designers to invigorate the tradition of jewelry design, while paying particular attention to concept, play, new techniques and materials, and by this concentrating more on the preciousness of the idea rather than on the material value of the object. ©Chi Ha paura…?