Beppe Kessler: Plenty of Nothing

Through her language, she stages a wunderkammer in which the wonder of nature becomes art, and life turns into eternity.

To a certain extent, the ancient Wunderkammer can be considered as the first stage of the development of the concept of museum. Historically, Naturalia and Artificialia have been those objects with particular or wonderful characteristics that have aroused curiosity and desire for conservation, the first coming from the world of nature, the second from the artificial world of man.

Beppe Kessler gives life to her particular and intimate Cabinet de Curiositè, composed of the seeds of the elm tree.

With around 75,000 elms - more than forty different species - Amsterdam is rightfully the elm capital of the world. Every descending elm seed has just a different shape, different colour, different size: from the small, young and green seed to the larger mature and mature adult seed to the old wrinkled seed, with everything in between. They are about the same but never the same. They weigh nothing, at most 10 mg.

During the annual "spring snow" you see them everywhere, and months later you can still find them - in a corner of the hall, on the carpet, under your shoes. This Amsterdam phenomenon was the inspiration for the artist who aimed at turning this small, tiny, and sometimes irritating seed into a special piece of jewellery.

It resulted in a collection of jewellery, including the elm seed brooch: an edition of 50 portable elm seeds, cherished as a symbol of Amsterdam; an ode to the city.

In addition to a group of fifty brooches, she also made more complex, associative pieces, which for instance incorporate leafs, grass and wood. Once again Kessler succeeds in transforming seemingly humble, usually unnoticed material into objects that shall once grace a future wearer, and will continue to fascinate and delight the eye.

The project is supported by the AFK Amsterdam Art Fund.

About the Artist

Beppe Kessler (B. 1952, Amsterdam) is a jewellery maker who paints and a painter who makes jewellery. Her language is characterized by the use and combination of everyday materials.

Kessler's work has been extensively nationally and internationally exposed, with solo exhibitions in Berlin, Vienna, Frankfurt, Padua, Lisbon, Stockholm, Bangkok and Washington. She was selected eleven times for the annual international jewellery exhibition Schmuck in Munich. She received the prestigious Herbert Hoffman Prize twice here. Her work is included in the collections of various museums in the Netherlands and abroad, including the Stedelijk Museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Several publications have been published about her work.

Beppe Kessler lives and works in Amsterdam