About the Artist
Since my early childhood I am interested in creative projects, drawing and nature. Drawing was my creative medium for many years before I started a professional goldsmithing training and came to work with tree dimensional shapes and different materials than I was used to. I was working in the fine jewellery field for a couple of years. But the urge to be more creative and express myself grew over the years, so I decided to take the next step and started my studies at Trier University, Campus Idar-Oberstein. Not knowing what to expect but open for everything new, I dived into and fell in love with contemporary jewellery. I was especially interested to combine my technical background with a more free and sculptural way of expression.
I like the idea of jewellery as a medium of expression and communication. I want to share
I strife for exchange openness for subjective perception and self-reflection. My work is about interchange and interaction between nature and culture as well as objects as a medium of expression.
Photo by Lisa Villinger
Photo by Florian Schmidt
Short Bio
Natascha Frechen was born in Jülich, Germany in 1990 and lives in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. She studied at the University of Trier, Campus Idar-Oberstein, Germany and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Gemstones and Jewellery in 2023. Coming from a goldsmith's background specialising in fine jewellery, Natascha Frechen combines technical knowledge with the sculptural qualities of stone. The works are characterised by a tension between the archaic and the technical. The result is a dialogue between the raw originality of the stone and the man-made artefact. She has received awards for her work and has participated in exhibitions throughout Europe. Between 2020 and 2021, she was part of the female artists' collective `from the jauntiness of absence`, which organised travelling exhibitions in France, Estonia and Germany, accompanied by the publication of the same name.
Award
2024
Winner of the New Talents Award by Klimt02 (ES)
2022
Finalist 20th Silver Triennal (DE)
2020
Finalist Friedrich Becker Preis (DE)
2019
Dterra Award /Artist in Residence, Sant Cougat (ES)
2019
Förderpreis Rheinland- Pfalz (DE)
Fairs and Exhibitions
2023
Rockstars BeCraft, Mons (BE)
MK&G Messe, Hamburg (DE)
Broschen im Dialog, Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus, Hanau (DE)
Unfolding Graduation Group: Intergem, Idar-Oberstein (DE)
Graduation Show at Galerie Marzee, Nijmegen (NL)
Unfolding Graduation Group: Sieraad Art Fair, Amsterdam (NL)
Unfolding Graduation Group: Inhorgenta Fair, Munich (DE)
Unfolding Graduation Group: IHM Fair, Munich (DE)
2022
20. Silbertriennale
Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus, Hanau (DE)
Inhorgenta Munich (DE)
Silberwarenmuseum Ott-Pausersche Fabrik, Schwäbisch Gmünd (DE)
DIVA Museum voor Edelsmeedkunst, Juwelen en Diamant, Antwerpen (BE)
Museum Zons/Dormagen (DE)
Lithomania, Kunstgewerbe Museum Berlin (DE)
LET THERE BE ROCK, The Museum of Bohemian Paradise, Turnov (CZE)
2021
from the jauntiness of absence, Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau (DE)
from the jauntiness of absence A*Galerii Tallinn (EST)
2020
ROCKStars at Schütt, Pforzheim (DE)
Friedrich Becker Ausstellung, Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf (DE)
Friedrich Becker Ausstellung, Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau (DE)
from the jauntiness of absence, Atelier de Artist Paris (FR)
2019
Joya Barcelona (ES)
ARENA, ChromXI, Idar-Oberstein (DE)
Staats- und Förderpreis Rheinland-Pfalz (Group exhibition) (DE)
2018
Design Days (NL)
2017
A Ring is a ring (GB)