Erico Nagai

Erico Nagai (* 1947 in Tokyo ) is a Japanese jewelry designer .

Her father was one of the earliest Japanese pianists, so her family, otherwise closely associated with Japanese culture , was also familiar with Western culture.

At the age of 20 she came to Europe to study painting in Basel , but then enrolled in the Munich Art Academy for the goldsmith's course. In 1976, shortly afterwards, she won the Bavarian State Prize, to the jury of which she presented 8 rings and a brooch in self-made packaging , a peculiarity that she later retained on the grounds that in Japan the packaging makes a statement about the value of the contents or him even increases. During her studies in Germany she learned old Japanese metal techniques and did an apprenticeship at “fine metal smiths”, as there is hardly any jewelry in our sense in Japan and therefore no “ goldsmiths ” either .

So the characteristic style Erico Nagai, in which they combined Western and Eastern techniques was (what you is a concern) and to "cheap" by fine, refined structures and surfaces often materials ( Arte Povera ) as copper and iron , which it melts and coats with tiny amounts of gold , creating an earth-colored patina that brings out the energy inherent in the material. She combines these fine surfaces with simple shapes, circular rings, square brooches and arched oval shapes. A connection between European modernity and the tradition of simplicity in Japan.

From the beginning of the 80s she used Japanese varnish ( urushi ), which is applied to layers of fabric glued on top of one another and which shimmers in deep red and deep black. At the end of the 80s she began to process solid gold, often with openwork outer shells, which she deposited with gemstone discs. In the course of her work, the perforations became even stronger, until she soldered small gold tubes together to form ornamental pieces of jewelery that are reminiscent of flowers and are filled with enamel or spherical gemstones .

According to Erico Nagai, jewelry should not be too “pleasing”, but rather emphasize the wearer. It should have something valid and permanent and not be too dominant. Since her commercial value is so little in the foreground, she mainly sells in art and jewelry galleries and, to her regret, not in jewelry stores, which, in her opinion, have "reservations" with modern jewelry.

Since 1985 she has been teaching as a lecturer a. a. in Pforzheim , Schwäbisch Gmünd and Tokyo. It has found many imitators and can be seen at many exhibitions. One of her collections is in the Pforzheim Jewelery Museum in the Reuchlinhaus in Pforzheim.