About my artwork

I was born in Athens, Greece. In 1999 I graduated from BA of Atrs in design after three years training in  visual communication design  specializing in Graphic Arts. During 2000-2003 I pursued my studies in handmade and industrial jewelry at the Mokume School of Athens, where I obtained state certification in the specialty of Handmade Jewelry.
Why Jewelry? It is not only about jewelry itself but also about the human body (physic, mental, spiritual) that carries – embodies a statement jewelry.  It is like wearing out loud a feeling or a thought and jewelry making is a tool that help me manifest all that.

So I started my career at the contemporary jewelry field  in 2004 and have been working in my Athens based studio ever since.
Using the traditional silversmithing technique but without always following the rules, my practise is mostly associated with painting usually with acrylic colours  directly onto preped metal especially copper, along with  oil on canvas  or other techniques , giving me therefore so much more freedom and endless possibilities.

The whole process from the initial design to the finished piece is time consuming and very demanding thus several weeks may be needed in order the artwork is finished . Every time I create a new piece of jewelry , metalwork itself ,painting and joining the pieces together set a new challenge.
All of my large scale pieces and many of the smaller ones are unique and therefore never to be reproduced again as the same jewelry piece.

At some point I decided to keep a jewelry body-related journal and thats where Myth Series were born  https://www.artemisvalsamaki.com/myth-series/.  The subject matter that fascinates me can derive from almost everything and that is, fantasy and dreams, mythology, psychology, subconscious, everyday life, humans and animals to name a few.   Using my  practise to give voice to my  thoughts in an artwork that will come in touch with the  body  is very challenging to me as well as the creative process itself.
All of my large scale Jewelry pieces are body related and have been created to be worn but they can also stand as objects-sculptures.
Each time my desire is to create a visual- narrative tale to be worn.
As the years go by I find myself more and more dedicated to creating new pieces of artwork and also have fun doing them.
Overall I love art and I believe in its healing power.