Hand engraver/ jewellery designer
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Copperplates
Pendants
Wedding Rings
Cultural Approach
Hand engraver/ jewellery designer
01.
02.
03.
04.
Copperplates
Pendants
Wedding Rings
Cultural Approach
Copperplate engraving originated in the 15th century when goldsmiths replaced woodblocks with burins to incise designs into copper. Early master Martin Schongauer demonstrated the art’s potential through the dynamic composition of The Temptations of St Anthony and Albrecht Dürer’s Adam and Eve showed how finely cut lines could depict human form and natural detail. Italian engraver Marcantonio Raimondi expanded the medium by scraping his plate with pumice to create subtle tonal gradations in The Judgment of Paris, an influential Renaissance. In the 18th century, naturalist Mark Catesby drew and engraved 220 copperplates of birds and plants for his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, linking hand‑engraved copperplates to scientific illustration.
Building on this rich tradition, my own copperplate prints reinterpret masterworks with my personal insights and also capture the landscapes of Florence, blending historical techniques with contemporary expression.
Building on this rich tradition, my own copperplate prints reinterpret masterworks with my personal insights and also capture the landscapes of Florence, blending historical techniques with contemporary expression.
Florentine engraving originated during the Renaissance in Florence, when goldsmiths engraved designs on copper plates and precious metals to decorate jewellery, picture frames and weapons. This craft later evolved into two forms of brushed finishing: rigato (seta) and damasco. Rigato creates a silky sheen by cutting hundreds or thousands of parallel fine lines with a burin, brands like Buccellati use this technique to give gold pieces the look and feel of silk or damask fabric. Damasco imitates damask patterns—engravers improvise scrolling and geometric lines to produce fabric‑like patterns and interplay of light and shade. This technique demands high manual skill and often employs chemical colouring to bring out its complex texture.
My designs carry forward both of these traditional techniques. I use the Florentine engraving’s “silk ground” as a backdrop and layer damasco‑style floral or geometric scrollwork on top so that the metal surface has both a soft, silky sheen and a three‑dimensional pattern. To meet customers’ individual requirements, I offer customization services. In the Album Box collection, for example, I shrink a traditional photo album into a pendant sized for a necklace and decorate its exterior with rigato engraving. In this way I both preserve the historical lineage of Florentine craftsmanship and create one‑of‑a‑kind pieces imbued with personal meaning for my clients.
My designs carry forward both of these traditional techniques. I use the Florentine engraving’s “silk ground” as a backdrop and layer damasco‑style floral or geometric scrollwork on top so that the metal surface has both a soft, silky sheen and a three‑dimensional pattern. To meet customers’ individual requirements, I offer customization services. In the Album Box collection, for example, I shrink a traditional photo album into a pendant sized for a necklace and decorate its exterior with rigato engraving. In this way I both preserve the historical lineage of Florentine craftsmanship and create one‑of‑a‑kind pieces imbued with personal meaning for my clients.
In my Wedding Series, I continue to use the seta technique for the base layer, and on the top layer I engrave bespoke motifs I design for each couple. These patterns are distilled from the clients’ own love stories or elements they provide, and I refine them into a coherent, meaningful design that celebrates their relationship.
In the “Dunhuang – Nine‑Coloured Deer” collection, I draw on the mural The Nine‑Coloured Deer Jataka from Mogao Cave 257. The story recounts how a nine‑hued deer rescues a drowning man in the Ganges and asks him to keep its existence secret. Tempted by a reward, the man later betrays the deer. When the deer appeals to the king, the monarch is moved by its virtue and spares it, while the faithless man is punished for his treachery.Florentine imagery also features in my work. The iris is Florence’s civic emblem, and the city’s flag bears a stylised red iris on a white field. In my “Iris” signet ring I carve this stylised flower to honour the city’s history. I also use classic scroll motifs—ornamental patterns of spirals and incomplete circles that often represent vines and leaves and have been widely applied in architecture, pottery and manuscript illumination. By combining the graceful curves of the scroll with a silky metal ground, I give new life to these traditional patterns.
Beyond jewellery, I engrave three‑dimensional sculptures as well. On a silver Buddha statue, for example, I use a Florentine rigato base paired with damasco scrollwork, so that the surface exhibits a silk‑like lustre and rich texture when caught by the light.
Beyond jewellery, I engrave three‑dimensional sculptures as well. On a silver Buddha statue, for example, I use a Florentine rigato base paired with damasco scrollwork, so that the surface exhibits a silk‑like lustre and rich texture when caught by the light.
y.olga010@gmail.com
Professional Experience
Exhibitions & Awards
Press & Publications
Education
Languages
- Hand Engraver/Jewellery Designer
- Jewellery desinger
- Polished Diamond Grader, P.D.G,
- “The Most Influential for Jewelry Industry of Asia in 2024”
- ROTOR The Le Carrousel du Louvre Contemporary Art ExhibitionParis, France, 2024
- 87A Monstra Internazionale Dell’Artigianato(MIDA)/87th International Craft Exhibition
Florence, Italy, 2023 - International Platinum Jewellery Design Contest Winner2020
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Collaboration project
Dodo by Pomellato, Milan, Italy
Working with Vincenzo Castaldo, Pomellato Creative Director, generating ideas for latest collaction and realiazation, 2017-18
- “Heritage and Innovation: The Cultural and Emotional Transmission in Jewelry Design”
https://figureasia.cn | 2024 -
“Tate Etc”
Summer 2024 Issue 62 -
“Numero art”
14 avril - aout 2024
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“Flash Art”
Summer 2024 Issue 347 VOL.
- Hand Engraving on Plates and Jewellery
Le Arti Orafe(LAO)
Florence, Italy
Professors: Giuseppe Casale, Filippo Vinattieri - BA - Jewellery Design
Istituto di Design(IED) Milan, Italy - Secondary School
- English
- Mandarin
- Italian