Valentina Barella's Inspiring Path To Becoming An Artisanal Jewelry Maker

Italian jewelry maker and goldsmith Valentina Barella looks back at her career path in an interview with artil magazine, from learning to make jewelry with a mentor in Rome to launching a jewelry atelier and coworking space in Milan. Valentina also chats about her childhood, her love of language and shares her advice to aspiring jewelry artisans.

Valentina Barella

Before meeting the woman behind Oriunda Jewels, I rarely wore jewelry. It looked too busy for my more minimalist style. When I met Valentina for the first time, she was wearing a silver fused coffee bean around her neck. It was playful and unusual, shiny and familiar.

I loved the thought of wearing something that recalled the sound of espresso brewing and neighbors chatting at my favorite café in Milan. I commissioned the same necklace and soon found myself adorned in more and more of Valentina’s work, from yo-yo wristbands to secret garden and locket rings. None of it felt like mere ornament, at least to me. Her jewelry is as much about conveying meaning as it is about aesthetic beauty.

Tell us about your journey to becoming a jewelry maker.

"As a child growing up in Rome, I used to string beads together into long necklaces and bracelets. It was always a moment of intimacy for me, sort of like the breath that gives you peace and rhythm in life. I would also decorate my clothes with beads and any materials I’d find around the house. I liked wearing things that weren’t common or in fashion, and I never wanted to buy what was already available. I loved using my hands to make just about anything. I remember using dough as clay to make designs for instance or other materials I’d find to make mosaics. Making things was my way of expressing creativity. Becoming a professional jewelry maker, however, is something that happened by chance after college."

After completing your degree in International Communication and Arabic Language, you decided to change paths.

"I loved studying Arabic for its artistic design and understanding its linguistic formulas that reminded me of solving math equations, but every time I heard people talk about going into a creative field like costume design or painting, I’d get this pain in my stomach. I felt envious and wondered why I couldn’t do something artistic too. I didn’t want to feel that way anymore, I just wanted to do it. So after graduating, I started looking for practical design programs. I wound up choosing jewelry studies at the Academy of Costume and Fashion in Rome. Unfortunately, I was the only one enrolled so the course was canceled. Around the same time, I was walking in the Trastevere quarter of Rome by Piazza della Malva when I came across Bottega Ivano, a small jewelry shop. In the window display, there were pieces made of the glass marbles children play with and pencils. That was when I realized jewelry could be made with nontraditional, everyday objects. Ivano and I eventually became friends and instead of attending design school, he invited me to come to his jewelry lab and observe the way he worked."

How did your experience learning from a mentor shape you?

"As a mentor, Ivano didn’t want me to adopt his style but offered to show me how he used different materials and techniques. I went to his shop whenever I could and would sit down at a wooden table in his tiny lab. After observing him for a short time, I began experimenting with soft wax. His studio granted me the possibility of learning at my own pace and creating freely without any set rules or expectations. I used to think that a perfectly made piece of jewelry was done with a machine and that any irregular pieces must have been made by hand, but my time with Ivano taught me that a seemingly perfect object could be made by hand. After that experience, I wanted to learn to use other materials and techniques. I enrolled in a hard wax course. It was an entirely different way of making jewelry that enabled me to make more precise angles and geometric forms. I continued studying with different jewelry designers and took as many courses as I could. The more techniques I learned, the more freedom I had to make intricate, artisanal pieces. With artisanal jewelry, you can be as creative and detailed as you like because you don’t have to worry about mass producing."

Why a love of words in your jewelry collections?

"Words are always part of my jewelry, both in the way a piece is called and in its implied meaning (such as my necklace Girogirocollo, which is a play-on-words). Making jewelry, for me, is never purely about making beautiful pieces but about creating and communicating meaning. I love how words help us make sense of the world and understand one another as well as how they reflect culture, tradition and identity. Just like bricks are not homes, words are not thoughts, yet they help me give form to memories and convey emotion in my work."

Tell us about the meaning behind your jewelry brand, Oriunda.

"While on a trip to Morocco, my friend Laura told me I was oriunda since I have this love for different cultures and am free to be part and among them freely. In Italian, oriundo means native of a place but living abroad, alluding to being a citizen of the world. I liked the rarity of this word and the concept resonated with me. I immediately decided to use it as the name of my jewelry business. I like to think of jewelry as a universal language that unites people beyond borders and that those who choose to wear my jewelry also choose to look at the world with a sense of wonder."

What inspires you in your day-to-day life?

"I like to observe daily life and the objects that are part of it. The jewelry I make is based on what I see and my interpretations of the world around me, often with a comedic twist. I enjoy making pieces with double meanings that make you laugh or think twice before uncovering their meaning."

What is your creative process like?

"Many of my ideas transpire unexpectedly, after they’ve had time to mature from spontaneous experiences and observations. My best insights are often that way, not forced. Usually when I have a theme to develop, I base my research on specific images or words that aren’t connected to jewelry. I’m also inspired by the way common objects open or close, or the forms of shadows on sidewalks. Or sometimes I limit myself to using specific tools to create a piece. That’s usually the method that produces the most interesting results. No matter which method I use, I always try to make aesthetically pleasing jewelry that also stimulates reflection, sort of the way Japanese haikus sum up essences."

What is your favorite piece?

"One of my favorites is a bracelet called Barselet that I made for the Windoor exhibition in Budapest. The theme was doors and windows. To wear the bracelet, you have to slide your wrist through the elastic bars. The gesture implies having to cross a threshold. The meaning is in the name."

You co-founded ABOUT Fucina Orafa in Milan with Giorgia Pisciutti and Debora Giugno. How did this project come to be and what does it represent?

"After four years of renting a jewelry bench at a studio in Milan, I needed my own professional space and wanted to create an atelier that doubled as an exhibition space and coworking community. Together, the three of us found an old industrial building in southern Milan and turned it into a gallery and studio space. We wanted to give jewelry more room to breathe in a place where you can experiment and attend workshops with teachers from all over the world. ABOUT is a studio, a school and a community. It’s also the first coworking space in Milan about jewelry where you can work legally and sustainably."

What is your advice to anyone wishing to become a jewelry maker?

"Find your way to express yourself, that will be the only way to be appreciated and satisfied with your work. Take inspiration from the world around you and filter it with your own eyes. Nature, for example, is an infinite source of inspiration. Let yourself be contaminated by different techniques, not only in the field of jewelry. Talk about yourself in your work. Tell your point of view."