Helga Mogensen was born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1980. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2007. She now lives and works in Reykjavik. From beginning Helga has been working with a variety of materials such as silver, steel, copper, brass, driftwood and fish skin. Her main focus in her art work is using her personal experience in life and translate that into objects to wear or even wall pieces. As a maker she loves the freedom that is involved in her field. The different scale of work, varying from earrings to large scale neckpieces brings different challenges to the table.

“It can be difficult to ask oneself what it is that matters, what it is that I thrive on as a designer, artist and maker. For me it is quite simple actually. Its just life.”

 

The passion for making jewellery is based on this life experience. Its all about somehow transferring the feelings behind the experience into a tangible object that can perhaps be worn.

I once heard someone say: "The work most personal to the individual artist, tends to be the work that people will learn to appreciate the most." These words really stuck with me and lead me to belief that in order to create something, people have to have passion and belief in the things they are doing or making. Therefore my work portraits a bit of myself: it mirrors actions, behavior, people, places, nature and feelings. It really does not make sense to be making something if I don't have interest or passion in what I am doing.

Ever since I was a kid, I have been going up North in Iceland to a special hideaway place where I go with my family every summer. This hidden gem has some sort of magic about it. The beach is full of driftwood, sea shells, old shoes and interesting things that have been in the ocean for quite some time. The place has no electricity or hot water which makes it quite the contrast to city life. With nature at my doorstep and intersting things drifting ashore the place is ideal for processing thoughts and developing new ideas.

The moment is also a great interest to me. I find it somewhat charming to stand opposite someone in the supermarket and wonder what kind of person they are or if there is someone wanting to be looking at that person at that specific time. But how does one capture moment with jewellery? I personally try and transfer feelings and colours into shape, but I guess we each have different ways of dealing with the moment. Photographs are one way of capturing the moment people want to remember for a long time. What is it actually that makes people want to capture the moment? These are thoughts, not answers about my work!

The sketchbook is a very important medium for me to work with along side the jewellery. The sketchbook works as a communicator between me and the pieces I am making at each time. I find it very important to keep a sketchbook with me at all times, small or large to keep track of thoughts.