Katerina Glinou

Presence /// Absence by Synergy Calls at Tical Lab, Porto, Portugal

Katerina Glinou — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 15:11:10 +0000

I had the honor to be part of the exhibition Presence /// Absence by Synergy Calls, at Tincal Lab, Porto, presenting a new jewelry collection designed for this event.

This was a call to a collective exhibition that seeks to examine the tensions and intersections between: what is and what is not—a journey through the epiphany of presence and the echoes of absence.
At every moment, we are surrounded by signs, traces, and voids that define our existence. Like the vibrant hues of a Matisse canvas, or the palpable absence of certainty in Kafka’s prose, our quest leads us to unexpected places.
Presence reveals itself in the form of a smile, a gesture, or a piece of wearable art, within the context of contemporary culture and its reflections: interpersonal relationships, identity, memory, space and time. Conversely, Absence manifests in emptiness, silence, the space in between, or in the unsettling feelings of ”something is missing”, often linked to trauma and the past.

What is Presence /// Absence by Synergy Calls?

SYNERGY is a co-curated contemporary jewelry project between three galleries: Galleria Carlo Lucidi (Rome), Tincal lab (Porto) and Uni.versus (Athens), founded by Carlo Lucidi, Ana Pina and Niki Stylianou, respectively.

Presence /// Absence international collective exhibition, by SYNERGY, opened simultaneously in September of 2025 across the three locations. Tincal lab was happy to present 17 jewelers that explore this dichotomy through different approaches and materials.

THE PROJECT

This exhibition is a manifestation of an innovative, vibrant SYNERGY among three galleries: Galleria Carlo Lucidi in Rome, the Tincal Lab Gallery in Porto, and Uni.Versus Gallery in Athens.

The term “synergy” comes from the Greek word “συνεργία” (synergia), which means “working together” or “cooperating” and explicitly implies a notion of unity and collective action where the outcome is greater than the sum of the separate efforts of the co-creators.

This first exhibition organized by SYNERGY will be co-curated by the three gallerists and will simultaneously take place across the three locations, allowing for a rich and interconnected exploration of the theme, as each gallery will contribute its unique perspective.

About my participation and piece

Urban Flowers on the Walls (UFOTW) is a project inspired by the layers of posters on the walls of my birth city, Athens.

While wandering around Athens I often see walls covered by layers of posters. Those paper layers stay there for years while their colors fade or the glue dries out, so they peel off partially and hang from the walls like a bizarre kind of paper ivy crawling all over them or like a second skin.

My personal interest about the city and the phenomena of urban life is the reason why I decided to design a collection of wearable art pieces inspired by the peeled posters on the city walls.

I was always amazed by the work of Jacques Villeglé who -among other artists of his generation- created art by placing layers of posters and then peeling or ripping them to reveal the posters underneath.

For UFOTW Project I used paper from magazines glued together in layers creating a quite hard surface. In some cases, a piece of wire is used to help the construction be steadier. I decided to finish my projects by adding a few pieces of metal leaves as an ironic touch since these pieces are jewelry and they «need to sparkle». The pieces are quite sturdy but since they are made of paper they can be torn and therefore their owners can change their form if they want. This gesture is part of the project’ s concept.

BUST

wire, paper, glue, metal leaf

BROOCHES

wire, paper, glue, metal leaf

CHOCKER NECKLACE

wire, paper, glue, metal leaf

PENDANTS

wire, paper, glue, metal leaf

Making of the project

https://katerinaglinou.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/UFOTW_KaterinaGlinou_1.mp4

And A Few Tincal Lab Moments

The post Presence /// Absence by Synergy Calls at Tical Lab, Porto, Portugal appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

Jelo6 Project 2024 @Zappeion, Athens, Greece

Katerina Glinou — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:27:05 +0000

I had the honor to participate in the 2024 Athens Jewelry Week – JELO6 Project as part of the “Declaration of Sentiments” project and exhibition. I was invited to converse with this team in 2023 when the origial exhibition was held at Uni.Versus Art Room in Athens Greece.

What is Declaration of Sentiments?

“Declaration of Sentiments” is a project originally conceived and curated by the Turkish group Co+Lab: Burcu Sulek, Nevin Arig, and Snem Yildirim. It took its name from the Declaration of Sentiments at the Seneca Falls Congress, held in 1848 under the leadership of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. This declaration, signed by 100 men and women, stands as the first organized women’s rights record in history, advocating for equal rights for women.

The curators of the “Declaration of Sentiments” brought together 20 women artists who have used and continue to use jewelry as a medium within the context of the gender-based struggle for women in the art environment. These artists, not hesitating to embrace hard work, have persevered in their artistic pursuits, earning esteemed positions at art academies, organizing international events, establishing galleries or exhibition spaces, and achieving much more.

Nevin Arig, Erica Bello, Klara Brynge, Sofia Björkman, Jessica Calderwood, Melissa Cameron, Cata Gibert, Gesine Hackenberg, Yajie Hu, Mari Ishikawa, Helena Lehtinen, Anna Lewis, Eija Mustonen, Sondra Sherman, Burcu Sülek, Niki Stylianou, Fatima Tocornal, Tarja Tuupanen, Eva Van Kempen, Snem Yildirim.

After traveling to different European cities, the exhibition concluded its journey at Uni.Versus Art Room in Athens. It was then that we decided to give the project a new perspective.

Amid the continuous news of violence against women and children worldwide, bombarding us through the media, we believe it is the right time to raise our voices too. Opting for love and creativity over any form of violence, and embracing differences (of age, sexuality, skin color, nationality, religion, etc.), we invited jewelry makers from around the world to draw inspiration from the 20 women who chose to participate in the first edition of the project, encouraging them to #liveandevolvespeakinglovenotwar.

“Declaration of Sentiments: A New Dialogue” is thus a group exhibition that speaks to equal human rights and dreams of a creative world that respects women and embraces female energy. The exhibition was curated by Niki Stylianou and Sofia Zarari.

About my participation and piece

I decided to converse with “Daily Obedience Routines“ of Snem Yildirim by creating a necklace (or a banner-flag) that refers to the traditional Greek embroidery women used to sew for home decoration. They would write messages on them to encourage or to preach to other people (mostly women). I braided a colorful surface and sew the word PREPEI (“prepei” means “you must”) and a large eye on the one side. On the other side of the banner I wrote the word OXI (“ochi” means NO) as a counteraction to the first command. While the “PREPEI” side is symmetrical and strict the “ΟΧΙ” is free and doesn’t follow any rules.

PREPEI

Necklace

Felt, Thread, Silk, Pigments, Branch

And A Few Jelo6 Moments

The post Jelo6 Project 2024 @Zappeion, Athens, Greece appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

Arte Y Joya – Contemporary Jewellery Yearbook 2022-2023

Katerina Glinou — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 13:15:45 +0000

During 2022 Grupo Duplex invited artists around the world to participate in the new edition of the Arte y Joya Award. The competition was open to all the artists who wanted to contribute their creative and research vision in the field of contemporary jewelry. The call was open for professional individual artists, students and collectives working in the field of contemporary jewelry. The main goal was to create a safe space for all artists that wants to contribute their creative research and vision worldwide. I am very happy to announce that my work was included in the 34 finalists among 133 talented participants around the world. It is a great honor for me and I want to thank Arte Y Joya and the jury for this distinction. My piece from the collection Scrapllery will be exhibited in the catalogue 2022-2023 and in galleries.

The post Arte Y Joya – Contemporary Jewellery Yearbook 2022-2023 appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

In Vogue Greece – May 2022

Katerina Glinou — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 16:43:40 +0000

I am so happy to announce that Katerina Glinou Jewelry is in Vogue Greece (May 2022 p77).

Four pieces of my “Rocks & Seashells” jewelry collection were photographed by Nikos Vardakastanis for the brand “The Artians”.

My pieces were also presented in the full SS2022 campaign of the brand and you can see them either in their website or through the brand’s social media.

Just google it!

You can also see two of my pieces in Blue Magazine of Aegean Airlines (Issue 90 p71 & Issue 91 p131)

The post In Vogue Greece – May 2022 appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

Member of Klimt02

Katerina Glinou — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 09:32:59 +0000

I am so happy to announce that since April 2021 I am a member of Klimt02 network. Klimt02 is a company working in the field of Art Jewelry and Contemporary Crafts.

Their objective is to communicate the current activity and insights of Contemporary Jewelry worldwide.

Klimt02 team selects, organizes, edits, generates and publishes information and their target is international art lovers.

The post Member of Klimt02 appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

Soul Garden

Katerina Glinou — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:52:33 +0000

There is no doubt that the 2020 pandemic changed the perspective of our lives, our thoughts and feelings and for artists was a great opportunity to isolate from the outer world and rethink their art.

In my country the first lockdown began in March 2020. In Greece, during March we see the first signs of Spring, nature gets wild, sun is extra bright and sky blue and clear. Some of us were lucky enough to live in beautiful places where you could find a forest near your house and enjoy the beauty of nature and all stages of its rebirth. During that time I had the opportunity to observe nature and look at details.

By the second phase of the pandemic Greece went through a strict lockdown in the last month of autumn. By this time days become shorter and the weather colder. The trees and flowers I used to observe and admire [during the first lockdown] started to lose their color and strength. The naked branches and the dry bushes changed the scenery. Yellow, brown, black and grey replaced the green and vivid colors while the beautiful metamorphosis of nature left everything to rest and stay quiet for a while. During my walks I became a collector by picking from the ground pieces of dry and dead twigs, thorny branches and flowers. These findings haunted me for a while. They were dead but extremely beautiful and all I wanted was to give them life again. I visualized them perfect, beautiful and alive. Powerful and proud. At that time my soul was trying not to collapse by the fear of the pandemic, the constant deprivation of social life and freedom, the threat of illness, isolation and death. Those dry – dead – dark – fragile pieces of nature gave me hope. My inner self would bloom again and these phenomenal dead finds would be reborn. I came up with the idea of a jewelry collection that consists of pieces made from those dead nature’s findings and other materials. A collection reflecting my deepest feelings of fear, frustration and hope at the same time. My garden of feelings and thoughts would become the “Soul Garden” jewelry collection.

The post Soul Garden appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

Love & Freedom

Katerina Glinou — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 20:49:34 +0000

This strange year is almost over and we must admit that during 2020 we all experienced a really difficult time. For myself 2020 was a year of new decisions and beginnings but also a year of soul searching while I discovered the real important things in my life. These important things are the ones that helped my survive during the year of the pandemic. After a lot of thought I decided that -apart from health- LOVE and FREEDOM are absolutely necessary for me and I believe for the most of you. Love and affection I feel and receive from my family, my husband and children. I was lucky enough to have a hug and a kiss from those people while others were not allowed to get close or touch their loved ones. This thought led me to create the “Hug” ring which I presented a few posts ago (here). My freedom though was something I really missed. I am the type of person who likes to travel and move around a lot and 2020 was a year of lockdown, fear and isolation. We were not allowed to travel or we were too scared to jump into a plane or ship and go to some place. Summer holidays lasted 2 months and I was very lucky to have a house on an island but this year’s summertime was strange as we felt “comfortably numb” (like Pink Floyd sing) most of the days.

A butterfly for 2021

Although I rarely make lucky charms, this year I decided to design a little piece of jewelry to symbolize LOVE and FREEDOM. For this purpose I reused and adjusted some silver motifs that I made a few months ago for the purpose of a student project cancelled by the first lockdown. These pieces were left aside for months but I kept on thinking about doing something with them. By the end of October 2020 my idea was clear and I started sketching the new symbolic piece that expresses LOVE and FREEDOM. The design combines two abstract heart shapes -LOVE- that come together and form a strange butterfly -FREEDOM. The delicate and light charm can be worn as a necklace or a single earring. Every piece is unique and has a random shape which makes it more personal for each one and more precious, too. It is made of sterling silver and I hope that you like it as much as I do. I wish you A HAPPY NEW YEAR full of LOVE and FREEDOM!

The post Love & Freedom appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

Discovering felt

Katerina Glinou — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 07:54:27 +0000

After the first couple of years of making jewelry professionally, I started experimenting with fabric leftovers. At that moment my daughter was in kinder garden and we had a lot of available materials for her school projects. Felt drew my attention immediately. It was soft, steady and easy to handle but also available in a great variety of colors and in a good price. So I sat down and made my first felt necklace and the same day I wore it and went to a kid’s party with my little one. Moms were very curious about this necklace. “What is this?”, “What is the material?”, “Wow! You made that?”. Among guests there was a gallery owner who told me that he had never seen something like that before. “You should do something about it” he said and so I did. Soon all of my jewelry designs were based on felt. I started cutting long stripes to make swirl beads by mixing 2 colors. First stripes were hand cut but soon I started using guillotine cutter for a better result. Then I rolled every bead by hand and used coated wire to sew the swirl beads together and create a colorful raw of candy-like beads (see full procedure here). The result was very joyful and suited my colorful concept. I used this technique for many years and created all types of jewelry but necklaces and brooches were my favorite. Through those “felt” years I met a lot of people who were excited with these pieces especially due to their color combinations and lightweight feeling. The “Bead A Boo” felt jewelry was appreciated mostly by women over 50 years old who like colorful and bold statement jewelry. Yes, through this procedure I learned that older women are more willing to wear different jewelry.

Milestones

One of my necklaces was awarded with the “A’ Design Awards” in 2015 and this made me very happy because I never expected to get an award with a piece of jewelry made of such a cheap material. The most touching moment of my “felt jewelry career” was when a lady gifted one of my brooches to her mother who was recovering from a serious trauma. Daughter’s research on such a health condition suggested tactile jewelry and her mother really enjoyed the soft texture and vivid colors of the brooch. It was an incredible feeling for me. I never thought that my creations could become a therapeutic agent. Another milestone of my felt years was the making of an enormous neckpiece that I created for a design exhibition. It looked like a vest and was part of a collection called “In_Spiral”. Some other pieces came along with the vest and all of them where very impressive but not so easy to wear since they were made for exhibition purpose. You can see the whole collection here.

Who wants one?

After all these productive years of making thousands of felt beads it’s time for me to leave this technique aside for a while and focus on silver designs. So I decided to sell all of my felt jewelry and make more people happy. I have a sale on Instagram and you can check every day for updates in my stories.

Love you all!

The post Discovering felt appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

Symbols of Tenderness

Katerina Glinou — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 16:21:19 +0000

It was the beginning of 2020 when I started making this website. The photo shooting lasted a few days and photo editing about a week. Then I had to write descriptions and stories about my work in English. Not so easy as it sounds. But in July 2020 the site was live and myself very happy with the result. This website is a personal portfolio of my handmade jewelry and a place to express my thoughts about life and how they reflect on art. Although I had great ” jewelry plans” 2020 turned out to be the year of the pandemic and most of us spent two to three months in quarantine. This period was very useful for me because I had the chance to rethink about life and priorities and of course I had a lot of time to make this website. Times are strange and until now we don’t know what the pandemic will bring. Generally no one can predict the future but it is the first time in my life I understand that nothing can be taken for granted. We have to enjoy every minute of life and be grateful for the little things.

Quarantine thoughts

During the quarantine period we all had a chance to spend a lot of time with ourselves. The families and people living under the same roof where somehow more privileged. Having the family by your side is usually soothing. The singles had a tough time living on their own without friends and family around and no physical contact. In the times of corona virus a kiss or a hug can kill you. Isn’t that shocking? So my mind always travelled to those people who had to get through this difficult period of time alone. Those who had to avoid physical contact with parents and grandparents. Friends and relatives living in different cities or countries not able to travel to their loved ones. I thought of all the people who could not enjoy the privilege of a simple hug with ones they love while I had everything and everyone under the same roof without problems or difficulties. At the end of summer I decided to design some pieces inspired by the small acts of tenderness and calmness that many of us missed during the quarantine period. As I wrote in my previous post my new designs will be done directly on metal and although I never design annual lucky charms I plan, just for this year, to make some unique pieces that symbolize safety, bliss and tranquility.

The “Hug” Ring

In this post I present the first piece of jewelry inspired by my quarantine thoughts. I named it “Hug” and it is a dainty sterling silver adjustable ring that embraces the finger like two fragile arms. My love for really small pieces is present in almost all metal collections. It is very challenging to create tiny jewelry with details. I find it quite interesting when I have to deal with mistakes and accidents on my pieces. For example the details of the “Hug” ring broke two times in the process. It was annoying and made me think that I am exaggerating by trying to cut and file such a thin wire. But, you know, I love the procedure. The smaller the better and the more challenging it gets the better silversmith you become. And since I am almost self taught in jewelry making the only way I can go further is with …destruction! So “practice and all is coming” as we say in yoga classes. Practice with small pieces and who knows maybe someday I will become a great jeweler!

Love you all!

The post Symbols of Tenderness appeared first on Katerina Glinou.

Autumn. Νew season, new goals

Katerina Glinou — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 14:01:44 +0000

We are in the middle of September and the summer holidays seem so far already. My season of inspiration and soul clearance is over.

For me, summer is the season to stop everything and just calm down and relax.

but i did a few interesting experiments

During that time I had the opportunity to draw, read and think about my next moves. I also made a few experiments and quality tests on my jewelry especially those that are plated and painted. My daughter and me chose to wear a few pieces for a long time and whole day long to see if colors and plating fade. We wore them at the beach, in the sea, during showers, with cosmetics, sunscreen lotions and really gave them a … “hard time”. The results were very satisfactory. The pieces that have enamel painted parts passed the test 100%. So my “Seeds and Pits” jewelry are water proof and safe to wear under all circumstances. Rhodium plated silver was very durable despite the water and cosmetics. I wore the “Diamonds” necklace for a month. The dark gray color faded slightly. Rose gold plating was pretty good, too! I tested “Boat” necklace for over a month. Although gold plated silver jewelry tend to fade easily it seems that my plater did an excellent job. Of course I don’t recommend wearing gold plated jewelry when bathing or swimming because eventually color will fade away. Below you can see the before and after photos of the pieces.

Photos were taken with mobile phone and natural light.

Autumn is for planning

Summer is for recharging and autumn for planning. It’s the season for new beginnings, designs and decisions. I don’t really care if they will come true. It is important to schedule my life and organize the things I want to achieve, no matter what happens. The most important thing is not to put myself under a lot of pressure by having unreal expectations but to set small goals and take one step at a time.

So what are the goals for this season? First of all I plan to practice a lot mostly by working directly with metals and not so much with wax. This way I can create one of a kind pieces made exclusively by me. Wax sculpturing and carving comes second because this procedure requires cooperation with a caster in order to have the final piece. Going to caster right now makes me feel quite uncomfortable because I still practice social distancing due to the corona virus restrictions. Not going to the caster also saves me a lot of valuable time since I don’t have to leave my workshop. There is not enough time for my creations because motherhood and house chores are mostly done by me among many more. So no back and forth to the caster for now. Just e-shopping for supplies and lots of workshop time for me, hopefully!

Some new designs are in my mind at the moment. They will probably be part of the “Symbols” collection. The last months, during the corona virus crisis, have made me very emotional and thoughtful about the meaning of our existence and the real values of life. Although I never design annual lucky charms I plan, just for this year, to make some unique pieces that symbolize safety, bliss and tranquility. Soon I will write a post about this procedure followed by sketches and photos of my work.

Until my next post try to enjoy the last days of September and find a beach near you for a quick swim. The sea is still warm and willing to take our troubles away.

Love you all!

The post Autumn. Νew season, new goals appeared first on Katerina Glinou.