Matthieu Cheminee
Color
“I was born and grew up in Paris, France. My interest in metalsmithing started at 19 when I moved to Taos, New-Mexico where I studied Navajo, Zuni and Hopi techniques and traditions, especially Navajo stamp work. I was then drawn to work in West Africa. When I moved to Mali, I studied Touareg, Fulani and other techniques that have been passed from one generation to another in the apprenticeship tradition. In the modern world, these techniques are getting lost and I was moved to attempt to preserve them by writing a book called "Legacy, jewelry techniques of West Africa".
Through that time, I developed a style of metalsmithing using stamps that I call Stampclastic. Stamping holds a special place in my heart; it is a technique that can be done anywhere. Stamps can be made out of recycled pieces of steel, old chisel or such. It is also a technique used all around the world. Most of the time the design is a geometrical shape, often with a special meaning, and used as an accent to decorate the metal.
I have been using this technique for over 20 years and developed my own form of stamping by creating patterns that fill the entire piece of metal. Over the years my stamped design evolved; my recent pieces are made of those patterns that are then anticlastically shaped (that give a comfort fit to the pieces) into bracelets and rings. “Stampclastic” as I call it is a tribute to all the jewelers around the world who transform any old piece of steel into tools or any piece of metal into beautiful jewelry.
In 2014 Tim McCreight and I created the Toolbox initiative, a non-profit organization that helps jewellers in West Africa mostly by giving donated tools.”
