I have been a relentless stalker/fan of fellow Australian Lottie Consalvo ever since I modelled in a shoot featuring some of her amazing remodelled antique metal jewellery under her label Black Elephant Jewellery, so when it came to writing about fellow accessory designers in Berlin she was at the top of my harassment list, happily she agreed, read her interview here…
Where are you from?
Melbourne, Australia
What are you doing?
Making recycled jewellery, paint, sculpt and do performance art.
How do you support yourself?
Through selling paintings and jewellery, mainly through my paintings.
Where can we find you?
Jewellery – www.blackelephant.com.au , Art – www.lottieconsalvo.com
What is Berlin’s appeal?
Its a platform to make art without confinement.
Do you think its easier to support yourself as a designer here?
In terms of cost it really is.
Berlin, poor? sexy?
I don’t see Berlin as sexy. It’s quite the opposite and that is what I was attracted to. I feel it is far less contrived than Melbourne or Sydney however I think that is changing as the ‘cools’ move in, but that’s not a bad thing. Berlin is for everyone and the diversity keeps it interesting.
Likes:
1. An open platform to make difficult art in a place with so much support from other artists from all disciplines
2. The fact that you can rent a cheap and nasty apartment and are allowed to renovate it and make your own nook.
3. Life on a bike
4. Turkish food
5. Cheap alcohol and food
Dislikes:
1. I like to work in a big open industrial space but as its so cold in Berlin you have to rent something smaller and with good heating which restricts the work you make.
2. The compulsory private health insurance required for your second year VISA. You can’t use travel insurance after the first year.
3. The red tape in administration. You sign 10 documents just to hire a car for 3 hours. There is not much lenience with anything, a bit of the old ‘computer says no’ mentality.
4. No beaches, no horizons.
5. After two and a half years it still doesn’t feel like home.
Interview: Millicent Nobis
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Millicent Nobis is a graduate fashion designer from Sydney, Australia, who now lives in Berlin running her own jewellery label Mies Nobis. You can follow her explorations of the Berlin fashion and art scene on her blog Mies in Berlin. For iHeartBerlin.de Milli has interviewed 6 accessory designers from all over the world about their life in Berlin.
