Terhi Tolvanen

Dialogue is essential to the work of jewelry designer Terhi Tolvanen—between materials, human and nature, harmony and discord, control and freedom. Tolvanen was born and raised in Helsinki, Finland, and studied silversmithing at the Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts. She moved to Amsterdam in 1993 to attend the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the Sandberg Instituut, from which she graduated with a master’s degree in 1999. Though she began with silver, Tolvanen later began to make sculptural jewelry using unconventional materials, including polyester, silk, cement, and many types of wood, from pear to pecan to willow. This has produced an eclectic but unified oeuvre, often inspired by nature and always with Tolvanen’s signature impulse to highlight the beauty and complexity of the materials. Tolvanen often emphasizes the connections of her pieces and continues to maintain a rigorous dedication to creating textural, experimental, and highly wearable jewelry.


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