Kaja Gjedebo, the founder, owner and sole employee of KGD
Kaja Gjedebo (b. 1974) the name behind the jewellery label KGD, studied both jewellery and furniture design at Edinburgh College of art. This divergence of skill is apparent in the wide range of designs of KGD. As she won the Royal Society of Arts student competition for jewellery, she worked as a diamond jewellery designer for Boodle and Dunthorne before she went on a 6 month artist in recidency in Sydney, Australia. After a short stunt where she got hired to work for SOM in New York as a furniture designer (never went, 9/11 came in the way..), she has never looked back on furniture, but developed her jewellery designs both artistically and comercially. She is inspired by objects and design spanning from 1930´s to the 1970´s, old postcards, stamps, scraps of paper, old citywalls and maps, she loves the textiles and wallpapers from this period and takes a lot of inspiration from architecture of all times.
She has done two exhibitions with clothes designer Mette Møller and a solo exhibiiton in addition to numerous group exhibitions around the world. She has been awarded a stately 3 year work-grant and been commissioned to make three big panoramas for TUI cruiseships.
She set up her own workshop in 2003 in the centre of Oslo with co-jewellery designer Kathrine Lindman, but has since 2009 worked from her big studio at home in the outskirts of Oslo, right by the forest in an artist recidency area.
KGD is not led by trends, but rather by Kaja Gjedebo’s personal interests. The result is elegant and timeless jewellery, combining natural forms with delicate construction. Gjedebo’s talent lies in her skill to manipulate and arrange the very small.
Her collections of cuff-links and bracelets formed of encased minute dioramas of retro imagery and typography fascinate the eye with their meticulous detail. There is a sense of humour in these tiny dramas, featuring little men and women taken from model railway kits. Words such as ‘Gentle Man’ and ‘Bond 007′, contained within silver frames reminiscent of 60s television sets, poke fun at traditional notions of masculinity and style. The variety of colour and shape so carefully arranged offer an exciting experience of discovery, whilst demonstrating Gjedebo’s skill with colour and design.
Similarly the Bubbles collection shows an appreciation of line and gentle forms as a source of beauty. The pleasing amorphous shapes mirror the curves and impressions of the body and recall mercury or sea-washed stones.
Gjedebo values skills and craftsmanship and believes in its value for the future. KGD proudly produces all its pieces, right down to the packaging it is placed in, in Norway. Local production ensures the highest quality in pieces that are made to order.
"After producing abroad for many years, I have taken on board the benefits of producing locally using local goldsmiths and small factories. It is also a lot more fun!"
photo: Sandra Pfeiffer
She has done two exhibitions with clothes designer Mette Møller and a solo exhibiiton in addition to numerous group exhibitions around the world. She has been awarded a stately 3 year work-grant and been commissioned to make three big panoramas for TUI cruiseships.
She set up her own workshop in 2003 in the centre of Oslo with co-jewellery designer Kathrine Lindman, but has since 2009 worked from her big studio at home in the outskirts of Oslo, right by the forest in an artist recidency area.
KGD is not led by trends, but rather by Kaja Gjedebo’s personal interests. The result is elegant and timeless jewellery, combining natural forms with delicate construction. Gjedebo’s talent lies in her skill to manipulate and arrange the very small.
Her collections of cuff-links and bracelets formed of encased minute dioramas of retro imagery and typography fascinate the eye with their meticulous detail. There is a sense of humour in these tiny dramas, featuring little men and women taken from model railway kits. Words such as ‘Gentle Man’ and ‘Bond 007′, contained within silver frames reminiscent of 60s television sets, poke fun at traditional notions of masculinity and style. The variety of colour and shape so carefully arranged offer an exciting experience of discovery, whilst demonstrating Gjedebo’s skill with colour and design.
Similarly the Bubbles collection shows an appreciation of line and gentle forms as a source of beauty. The pleasing amorphous shapes mirror the curves and impressions of the body and recall mercury or sea-washed stones.
Gjedebo values skills and craftsmanship and believes in its value for the future. KGD proudly produces all its pieces, right down to the packaging it is placed in, in Norway. Local production ensures the highest quality in pieces that are made to order.
"After producing abroad for many years, I have taken on board the benefits of producing locally using local goldsmiths and small factories. It is also a lot more fun!"
photo: Sandra Pfeiffer
