In Typhaine Le Monnier’s atelier, work never stops. Hands move instinctively while the mind circles around unresolved questions—shaping forms from fragments, discarded jewels, and fleeting ideas. What appears repetitive gradually reveals a deep, evolving investigation into form and meaning. Repetition exposes the resistance of materials: the fragility of stone, the stubbornness of metal, and the limits of turning thought into matter. Le Monnier’s practice is fuelled by the fraught tension between failure and discovery, doubt and intuition. Her work wavers between jewellery and sculpture, intimacy and collectivity, questioning the ways in which we inhabit the world and the role objects play within it. In Playtime, play is no escape; it is a method of survival, a way to sit with discomfort and keep creating despite uncertainty.

Cristina Filipe (b. 1965) is an artist, researcher, educator, cultural programmer and curator with a PhD in Art and Heritage from the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa in Porto. She was awarded a Susan Beech Grant by Art Jewelry Forum in 2017. She is currently collaborating researcher at the Centre for Research in Science and Technology of the Arts (CITAR) at the Catholic University of Porto — School of Arts.