Moniek Schrijer: Bio

Moniek Schrijer is a contemporary jewellery artist from Aotearoa / New Zealand, who holds a Bachelor of Applied Arts (Jewellery) from Whitireia, New Zealand's Faculty of Art, exhibiting nationally and internationally regularly; her work has been collected into various public and private spaces, including Die Neue Sammlung, Te Papa Tongarewa, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. In 2016, Moniek received a Herbert Hofmann prize, further solidifying her position in innovative jewellery art.

Schrijer's practice orbits around the transformation of new, second-hand, recycled, and found materials; these markers of human existence and the natural world are worked into intricate, thought-provoking pieces that balance artistry between jewellery, sculpture, and wall-mounted objects. Her creations move seamlessly between the flat plane and the third dimension using traditional and unconventional jewellery techniques, offering a unique interplay between form, texture, and light.

With distinctive ingenuity and a deep investigation into craft, combined with her wry sense of humour and critical reflexivity, Moniek's works provide a window into her sentiment and understanding of materiality and environment. Recently, she has been concentrating on altering flat sheet metal; her pieces glow with an otherworldly radiance as carefully set materials reflect and refract light, their surfaces rich with hand-painted detail. Whether suspended, mounted or worn, these works dissolve the boundaries between dimensions, inviting the viewer to reconsider the space between object, form, and perception.

Moniek draws inspiration from her everyday environment, both digital and physical; works often evoke nostalgic dissonance, layering slippage and mystery. She is particularly interested in the dualities within her work: the jewel and the object, the object and the host. In exploring cross-disciplinary techniques, Schrijer has incorporated printmaking, darkroom photography, sculpture, and painting into her jewellery practice. A recent project, A Hologram of a Diamond, exemplifies this approach.