approx. 2cm long, 4g (per earring)
sterling silver
Burcu Büyükünal was born in 1980, Ankara, Turkey. She graduated from Industrial Design Department of Istanbul Technical University in 2003. She worked for the jewelry gallery elacindoruknazanpak for four years following her graduation. By the time, she also taught metalsmithing classes in Istanbul Technical University. In 2006, she received Fulbright Award and moved to USA to study jewelry and metalsmithing at SUNY at New Paltz. She completed graduate school in 2009 and returned to Turkey. She cofounded Maden Contemporary Jewelry Studio in December 2011 with her business partner and friend Selen Özus. Currently, she teaches classes at Maden and has been continuing production of her jewellery brand since 2005. She has exhibited her work in various events and exhibitions in USA, Europe and Asia.
Burcu defines herself as a designer-maker who creates contemporary jewelry as well as conceptual art pieces. Her jewelry is inspired by the affordances of materials and techniques and her hands-on experience with them. On the other hand, her conceptual work questions conventions and societal norms relating to body and jewelry. She formats her work at non-functional products that carry challenging questions for herself and the viewer.