Standing Out Magazine | NOVEMBER 2022
ART
Crafting wearable art from found objects With a decade-and-a-half worth of experience in the design and art industry Stefni Muller has turned her back on conventional design and manufacturing processes and focusses on the inspiration that an array of different mediums bring. She challenges the value systems built on gold and diamonds by replacing them with temporary elements, found objects, alternative metals and each client’s story. These are her words:
We sat down with Stefni Muller, founder of Handmade, an intimate jewellery design and manufacturing brand.
ON HER EVOLUTION AS A JEWELER AND ARTIST Art has always been a part of my life. I think from a very early age I used it as a nervous system regulator. Since I was very little right through to 38, which I am now. It’s held my hand for the majority of my life and it’s been an incredible support system in a way. I used to bring my artworks back from kindergarten and tell my mom that she should keep them because they’re gonna be worth a lot one day. ‘After all, I’m gonna be a famous artist,’ I told her. After school I went to Stellenbosch University to study jewelry design and manufacturing at. Initially wanted to study graphic design but –– to be truthfully honest –– I didn’t know what to study. I definitely wasn’t ready for the world. I wasn’t ready to face the world after school, but I knew I didn’t want to get a job after school right
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