Meet Felieke van der Leest.
Here’s a chunk of her bio translated from Dutch:
The jewelery design by Van der Leest enriched with the introduction of textile crochet techniques. Combined with gold, silver and plastic she developed this in ten years its own idiom. She took his from her childhood when she Emmen often went exploring in the Zoo and the vocational training to goldsmith in Schoonhoven. Her unbridled imagination later came to full bloom at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. For someone who normally works hand-held, it is remarkable to monumental installations to develop. However, Van der Leest several “jewelry” for public spaces realized in collaboration Nephew Niece Design.
As I have mentioned several times, I love when artists take what some might consider rubbish or throw-away items and through hard work and creativity, transform this “trash” into something of beauty and worth. Felieke van der Leest takes small plastic animal figurines, cuts them up, caps parts in silver and crochets elements like clothes or mermaid tails to put on them. I am totally entranced by the collage-like effect in the end.
