The magical world of enamelling
VIRAG ANDERSSON speaks to Marie Benoit about her art and the delicate balance between art, family and motherhood
Virag is a Hungarian lawyer. She moved to Malta 10 years ago following her husband and became a jewellery designer/ enamel artist.
“My dream,” she says, “was always to live on an island. Coming from an old communist country and growing up behind the iron curtain, as a young person I had few possibilities to travel west.
I love the sea and all my jewellery inspirations are based on this love.”
Virag is very passionate about what she is doing. She does her best to nurture her two children with the love of nature and environment and “teach them to be decent and contented people.”
She loves speaking about her art. What is enameling exactly? “I am more an enthusiast of shapes and colours than an artist. I love glossy glass. Enamel technique itself is a very old method of coating metal surfaces with colourful glass. We all know the famous Fabergé eggs which are exquisite examples of this unique technique.
Colourful glass is ground into powder and applied on metal pieces before it gets melted on the metal surface in a 850 degrees celsius kiln.” Too technical. So she adds: “In short the metal oxidises
and changes the texture and colours of the glass. It cannot be compared to anything else. “
How did she learn enamelling? “I am grateful to Malta every day as it brought me close to some exceptional people. One of them is my jewellery teacher Charles. He allowed me to experiment with enamelling during my jewellery course and supported me with my metalwork studies. He is the kindest, most hands-on teacher I ever met, and I will be forever grateful to him. Apart from his help I was reading, researching, learning online and youtube-ing to master the technique of enamelling. I am still far from ready.”
So what shapes an artist? “This is a question that can be answered in a million ways,” she replies. “Everything. Artists are very sensitive; they filter what they absorb from their surroundings and make it part of their reality.
Virag was born behind the iron curtain in the Eastern Block. “My family was intellectual/artist and I grew up with art, music, the love of nature around me.”
She met her husband in Budapest. “We lived in Switzerland, then Italy and the UK. We finally ended up on this tiny island in the middle of the Mediterranen. That was ten years ago. The rest is history...
“My husband made my dreams come true: sea, sun, living my crazy artist life being my own boss, educating our two lovely kids. What more can I ask for?
As a working-from-home mum does she spoil her kids? “They are growing up surrounded by a lot of love and affection. So, in that sense yes, I do. Their parents are present. I believe the fact that I am working in the studio in our home gives them security, because they know i am always there for them. We don’t spoil them otherwise, they don’t get everything they want, but they get our unlimited attention, books, art and travelling.
We educate them to become happy contented people, but we also try to teach them the realities of life.”
Virag describes Malta as a sweet little bubble. “Our life is not real here, we are expats. I get this comment on a weekly basis from various sources. Hence our children have to be stable in this ever-changing world, they must to be ready to live anywhere and be happy simply by their inner happiness.”
They are taught to respect the Maltese culture but to also respect their own culture. “I teach them to be environmentally responsible and love nature; to enjoy the small things: a good walk, an interesting chat, and we try to do something good or something kind every day. Picking up three pieces of garbage on the beach is just enough. I live my life like this, not too many rules, just a few simple guidelines, and I pass these on to my children.”
Does her family like her creations, her jewellery? “Definitely, they are my greatest supporters together with my husband. All three of them appreciate different aspects of it.
My daughter loves the colours and the art itself. My son loves the technicalities of the making, he is interested in all the ‘cool’ machinery. My husband loves that I am here for them, and appreciates that I am just so crazy, so different. Sometimes it drives him bananas, but deep down he finds it refreshing.”
Where does she sell her jewellery? Any up and coming exhibitions? Where can we see her work? “Selling is hard for me, and I am not very good at it. I have my own platforms, my social media pages, but I am very grateful to those people and friends who believe in me and help me to spread my message. My friends are the best, they proudly wear my jewellery and are happy to let anyone know who the maker is!”
Lisa Grech who is the owner and creator of Malta Artisan Markets is a personal friend of hers and helped Virag a great deal at the start of her project. “I try to participate at least in her Christmas and Easter markets. I admire other artists. One of my idols is Carla Grima and her colourful silk work, and this is how my jewellery ended up in a lovely shop for artists Salt&C in Ta’Xbiex. I recommend a visit.”
Virag’s Facebook and Insta page is the best way to follow her journey, get in touch, get inspired, see what’s new and drop her a line. She says: “My art sells best when someone simply falling in love with a piece.”
Any plans for the near future? “Do you mean other than surviving the summer? Just kid
ding. I actually have big plans for the coming six months, but these are still secret, I don’t want to jinx them. The only thing i can tell you is that they involve some local artists and linked to this beautiful island my family and myself call home.”
Facebook page:
ViragAndersson.com
Instagram:
viraganderssonjewellery
Website
www.ViragAndersson.com