About me
Stephie Morawetz is an Austrian artist with a diverse background in art and design. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in millinery from the Art University Linz (2010) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts specialising in Gemstones and Jewellery from Trier University in Idar-Oberstein, Germany (2014). She furthered her education with master's studies at Shenkar College of Engineering, Design, and Art in Tel Aviv, Israel (2015-2017). Since 2015, Stephie has been a member of the female jewellery collective "Astonish," which annually exhibits their works at IHM Munich during Schmuck. In 2017, she founded the non-profit organisation NOD - Not Only Decoration, devoted to socially and environmentally conscious jewellery. Stephie is a lead author in NOD's annual magazine. Stephie's art has exhibitions worldwide, including her debut at the Jewelry Museum Pforzheim, as one of the 5 best graduation works of 2015. Her work has been displayed at Gallery Ornamentum in New York. In 2022, her art was a part of the "Mind of their own" exhibition at the Museum Angerlehner and was showcased at Goldsmiths' House in Hanau. 2023, her art is being showcased in multiple exhibitions: Budapest Jewelry Week, Austria, Philadelphia, Beijing, Porto, New York Jewelry Week, Brussels Jewellery Week and Slovenian Jewellery Week. “drop of black gold” in the collection of the Museum of Applied Art Vienna. And 2024 winner of the Silver Spur award of the Legnica Silver Festival “Empathy” for creative courage and uncompromising attitude.
About my work
In my work, I am rethinking the definition of luxury. Luxury has a close relationship to rarity and material. Since the beginning of humankind, we have considered materials like diamonds, gold, or pearls as luxury goods. We treat them as items of preciousness because of their difficult accessibility and their inessentiality for life. But our world and our society are changing due to factors like global warming, pollution, globalization, and the careless use of resources. As a result, luxury, values, and preciousness will evolve, as our rules and societal norms shift. This evolution includes concepts of value, class, and gender, which could be fundamentally questioned and transformed in the future.
In my pieces, I am creating concepts of luxury from the future to challenge our current values and encourage a re-evaluation of what we consider precious.
