The exhibition’s curator, Bruna Hauert – owner of the gallery and designer of jewelry – combined the work of Sam Tho Duong, a Vietnamese-born artist who creates in Germany, and the curator of this year’s exhibition SCHMUCK, with the works of Malgosia Kalinska, a multidisciplinary artist who combines jewelry design with painting.
Although their works differ in material, form, and aesthetics, they share a similar sensitivity to the creative process. In both cases, the material is not merely a material subject to the artist’s will—it becomes an active participant in the creation of the work, reacting, provoking, and co-deciding on its final form. Both the compositions by Sama Tho Duong’s pearls and Malgosia Kalinská’s biomorphic forms balance between fragility and strength, protection and vulnerability, organic growth and controlled spontaneity. It is this dialogue of opposites that became the achievement of the exhibition.
I am extremely surprised and at the same time very happy to be among the artists who have been setting the direction of the development of contemporary jewelry for years. These are creators whose works are presented in the most important galleries, awarded in prestigious competitions, and recognized worldwide. The opportunity to exhibit alongside them is a great honor for me – concluded Małgosia Kalińska.
Jewelry inspired by a painterly gesture
Małgosia Kalińska presented a collection of jewelry made from polyurethane resins, characterized by light, organic forms with an almost sculptural character. The series was created in 2020 as a practical part of her doctoral dissertation. „Painting gesture, error and chance as factors that co-create the spatial form of a jewelry object”.
The artist has been developing two fields of creativity in parallel for many years – painting and jewelry design. The presented collection was inspired by the gestural gesture, intuition, and the role of chance in the creative process. Thanks to the properties of polyurethane resin, lightweight, spatial objects with soft, fluid shapes are created that seem to have been formed more by nature than by the human hand. By consciously limiting control over the process of creating the works, the artist leaves space for the material to co-create the final form.
Soft forms evoke skin, membranes, and organic structures. They immerse the viewer in fluid spaces full of harmony and balance, escaping unambiguous contours. Although they appear fragile, they surprise with their strength and resilience – sums up Bruna Hauert.
Małgosia Kalińska She is a multidisciplinary artist who moves between two art disciplines: jewelry and painting. In her work, she reflects on the condition of the contemporary world, opposing the rush, excess, and aggression of everyday life. Her works are a search for minimalism, harmony, and mindfulness – values that define the direction of her artistic endeavors.
Doctor of Arts in the field of jewelry design, graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, a scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture, for nearly 30 years she has been developing her own practice that includes goldwork, contemporary jewelry, and acrylic painting. Her works have been presented in numerous individual and group exhibitions.
A special place in her work is occupied by jewelry made from polyurethane resins – a material that enables the creation of soft, biomorphous forms with a distinct lightness and spaciousness. Intuitive spontaneity meets the discipline of matter here, and the scale of the objects remains in dialogue with their delicacy.
Friends of Carlotta Gallery For more than thirty years, it has set the direction for the development of contemporary jewelry in Europe. The gallery, founded by Bruna Hauert, is renowned for its bold exhibition program, presentations of creators experimenting with form and material, and the consistent promotion of jewelry as an autonomous art form. Among the artists represented by it are both renowned names from the contemporary jewelry scene and younger generation creators.
„Between Sprouting and Flowing” („Between Germination and Flow”) – an exhibition of works by Sam Tho Duong and Malgorzata Kalińska
Friends of Carlotta Gallery
May 9 – June 6, 2026
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