Caro Bartling aims to create “favourites”, that rouse memories in us, even when seen for the first time. She selects a detail from a damask tablecloth and turns it into a buttonholeflower, transforms a napkin into a collar and she embroiders onto solid silver, instead of textiles. Even the smallest remnants of fabric or packaging get conserved under a plastic layer, given new value as “Badges textile” or “Badges Gold wert”. Her inspiration is everyday life and its historical development, reflected in her motto “as good as old”. Caro attempts to reintegrate things into our lives; things that seem no longer to be up to date, but which have a certain value in her eyes. Needlework for instance is as good as gold to her, because it costs a lot of time and patience. When combined with silver, wearable treasures are created. Her most recent jewellery-series “Leni” is named after her two grandmothers and inspired by their thrift and heedfulness. They taught her to not only care for fellow beings but also for the things that surround us. All their belongings were handled with care, darned, mended and repaired if necessary. Admiring this appreciation and knowing that today we mostly use, destroy and replace things, Caro designed brooche-necklace and ring-bracelet combinations made of embroidered and “darned” silver. As good as old as good as gold.

Academytraining
2001 - 2003 Master of Fine Arts, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, NL > www.sandberg.nl
1996 - 2000 Jewellery- + Productdesign studies, ABK Maastricht, NL > www.abkmaastricht.nl
Workexperience
2004 - working on her own collections
2002 - 2004 employee at Hester van Eeghen Design, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
1999 - 2002 student/employee at “Fraunhofer Institut für Produktionstechnologie” Aachen, Germany