Agnes Seebass

Modern Maestro

by Marbeth Schon

Necklace
 hollow constructed elements
 silver and gold leaf
 

It was a silky and subtly beautiful sterling silver bracelet with softly faceted links that first drew my attention to Agnes Seebass. I remember being surprised when I saw that it was made in Mexico --it didn't look like any Mexican jewelry I had previously seen. After some research, I discovered that Seebass and a few other exceptionally talented contemporary jewelers working in Mexico are part of a new aesthetic movement that I had not as yet explored.

Bracelet
 36 hollow squares
 silver
 

Some of our readers may be familiar with Agnes Seebass through the exhibit "Maestros de Plata, William Spratling and the Mexican Silver Renaissance."
(See http://www.modernsilver.com/Maestrosdeplata.htm   http://www.modernsilver.com/Maestrosdeplatalosangeles.htm  http://www.modernsilver.com/maestrostulane.htm )

Within the first chapter of the beautifully illustrated catalog for that exhibit in a section titled "Born out of an Illustrious Past," author Penny Morrill writes about some of the contemporary Mexican metalsmiths who embrace the traditions of the previous "Maestros de Plata." She includes Agnes Seebass along with Wolmer Castillo, Pedro Leites (Tane), Emilia Castillo, Teresa Camino, Jason Creagh, Violante Ulrich, and Ezequiel Tapia.  Morrill says, "With their willingness to experiment and grow, these new artists are part of a contemporary transformation of the silver industry, in which Mexico will continue as the land of authentic silversmiths...offering superb works, for which the world will be grateful."¹

Though Agnes Seebass is influenced by the styles and techniques of earlier Mexican silversmiths whose interpretations of pre-Columbian motifs define much of their work, she is a modernist whose designs only subtly reflect this influence.

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Seebass was born in 1966 in Berlin, West Germany. She says that from the time she was a young child she "loved working with her hands"--she had a natural inclination for the arts.

In 1985, she studied architecture in the HHS-Architecture Bureau in Bremen and in 1986, went to France, to Touluse where she Studied Architecture and French at the Universite du Mirail.

Between 1987-1991 Seebass studied Jewelry Design and Techniques of Production at the Staatliche Zeichenakademie in Hanau, Germany and worked with Jewelry Designers Erich Hergert and Bremen and Monika Vesely in Munich.

Around this time, while in Frankfurt, where she was exposed to Mexican modern and folk art, she acquired a desire to learn more about Mexican culture and especially about the fabrication of metal in Taxco and in 1992, she had the good fortune to be awarded a scholarship from the institution Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft² to study silversmithing at the Los Castillo workshop in Taxco.

Later, Seebass began creating her own pieces and opened her own workshop, first in Taxco and then in Cuernavaca where she presently works.

Seebass says that her jewelry designs were significantly enriched by the hollowware techniques she learned at Los Castillo. The large, forged sterling silver bracelet (below) is a result of this special training.

Forged bracelet
 silver
 

William Spratling's use of silver and wood inspired her salad spoons (below).

Salad spoons
ebony, silver
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I think that my designs are a mixture of German and Mexican culture, Seebass says. In part the forms of Mexican nature and contrasts inspire me and on the other hand I like simple geometric forms and of course I have a (German) passion for precise handcraftsmanship.

Normally I do not draw a design. I work directly with the metal, experimenting, hammering, etc.

All of my pieces are 100% handmade. I do not use any industrial process (like lost wax, stamping, etc.). Every element (see the necklace below and title picture at the top of the page) is hand hammered and hand fabricated.

Necklace, “Leaves”
forged elements, silver

The woven chokers (below) are hand woven. Even most of the findings (like ear nuts) are handmade in my own workshop.

Hand woven choker with “almonds”
 silver

For me, pieces made by hand and with patience (time is no argument in my workshop) have a very different feeling than any mass-produced piece.

I work only with one family. My main worker was working with me at the Los Castillo workshop in 1991 during my scholarship and we became friends. Two years later he started to work with me and now so do his four sisters.

There is something very special for me about working with silver; It is like an adventure and I keep discovering new ways to achieve the results I have in mind.

Sometimes the process is very intuitive, like the pendants with texture and gold leaf painting (see below: PUD textura 1 and PUD textura 2). I manipulate the surface in a spontaneous way until they look like canvas and can provoke curiosity to get closer , to touch…… 

Pendant with texture
 oxidized silver, gold leaf
One of a kind

Pendant with texture
 oxidized silver, gold leaf
One of a kind

Other pieces are more geometric and hollow like this pendant with ceramic and silver necklace and earrings (see below).

Pendant “Wheels”
 hollow constructed
silver, ceramic
 

Pendant
silver, oxidation
 

Earrings
 silver, oxidation

During my training in Germany I had very little interest in stones until I saw in Mexico the pre-Columbian jadeite beads.

Immediately I was intrigued by these unique pieces so full of history. Every single stone is different and the archaic look is such an incredible contrast to simple shapes and contemporary design.

So 14 years ago I started  to include these pieces in my work. Not only jadeites, but also antique shell, coral, or glass,

Necklace
 antique shell, silver pendant
One of a kind




Necklace
pre-Columbian beads, silver “bowls”
One of a kind

Pendant
 forged "leaves”, silver, pre-Columbian bead

Hollow constructed pendant with pre-Columbian bead
 hand woven choker
One of a kind
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In the words of Penny Morrill, The jewelry of Agnes Seebass conjures up an element of the eternal. Her early experiments with a German vocabulary of dynamic line has provided her with a constant reference point. Symmetry of concept is achieved, to which nothing superfluous is added. Thus, when Agnes places a pre-Columbian bead into a simple pyramidal setting, she is making reference to an ancient Mexican aesthetic she understands, appreciates, and can impart to us with subtlety and elegance.³

Agnes Seebass in her studio

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