DESIGN >
Intruders with butterfly wings
Written by: Štěpánka Strouhalová
Photo by: Věroslav Sixt

Zdeněk Vacek

Through his special perspective, jeweler Zdeněk Vacek touches on feelings, evokes questions, and breaks down ingrained ideas about artistic jewelry.

TRAINED JEWELER Zdeněk Vacek first gained classic experience repairing period jewelry in a Prague antique store and later filling custom orders at the Daloo jewelry studio. There he began concentrating on his own creations, at first oriented towards strict geometrical designs - such as professionally precise bracelets with moving balls. "Those were things of more than a technical nature, but I tried out principles of motion and function on them. I like it when a piece of jewelry in some way changes and moves, which finally led me to a completely different style inspired by organic shapes," the designer explains.
He presented his new "teeming" Nympha collection last month at the Designblok '05 show. "As the name suggests, the common idea of the entire collection was a sort of intermediate stage of a beetle being born. So all of these bracelets, earrings, brooches, and pendants have a dark, animalistic effect," notes Vacek. "But the last two items are white and tender for a change, with pink wings. It's like in life, which isn't all dark or sweetly pink," he adds. People are almost afraid to touch these fragile little monsters with transparent wings and elegant beauties that seem to have arrived from sci-fi dimensions. "I wanted to create new types of insects - they aren't any specific creatures, but rather variations on natural themes á la Giger. But I take great care to make sure that they are comfortable to wear," says the designer..
Vacek often uses refined materials like gold, silver, and precious stones in unexpected combinations. "I might set a diamond in rubber or combine it with a stainless steel spring for a lighter. Perspex also offers wonderful possibilities, as it has unreal colors," he explains. But Vacek most enjoys creating jewelry for specific people. "I take inspiration from the personality and I try to grasp how the person affects me. So for one person I'll make a tender flower, for another a rough coin," he says. The effects of Vacek's decorations are powerful, so they require original and psychologically balanced people to wear them.
At Designblok, Vacek was voted Talent of the Year by professionals, as well as earning the viewers' prize, Best Horse. Together with VŠUP (Institute of Applied Arts) student Daniel Pošta and florist Lucie Kulmanová of the Mimosa studio, he created an installation that recalls the insides of a beetle.

Necklace from stainless steel

Bracelet, crab pincers-silver

Brooch, perspex-brilliants-silver

Play for your life Prodlužující se večery využijte ke cvičení strategie, tříbení mysli a nácviku sladkých vítězství. Pexeso from the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna on Piatnik cards, CZK 499. Knihkupectví u Černé Matky Boží. Game on Wall Street with bricks and silvered figurines, CZK 3,990. Beltissimo. Piatnik playing cards with M. C. Escher motifs, CZK 175. Knihkupectví u Černé Matky Boží. Test your imagination with Dirty Minds, CZK 499. Debenhams · Debenhams, Václavské n. 21, Praha 1 · Beltissimo, Obecní dům - U Prašné brány, Praha 1 · Knihkupectví U Černé Matky Boží, Celetná 34, Praha 1