Bio
My work is mainly about exploring some of the fundamentals of our everyday existence in a playful way: the creative and technical process of making, our relationship to objects that surround us, preoccupations of the zeitgeist. I make use of a lot of themes from popular culture - absurdities of speech and amusing ironies of the contemporary social climate often underpin my pieces and I enjoy it when people smile in response to them. Ultimately, I like to connect to people, and jewellery is the medium I use to do that - it is the perfect platform for social commentary because it is made on a very human, intimate scale and is designed to move around out in the world. The technical aspects of jewellery-making are also important to me, and I like to be constantly challenged by new materials that require new problem-solving skills.
CV
Name: William Eric Loubser
Born: 17 February 1986
Citizen: South Africa
Work and live: Johannesburg, South Africa
Director of Tinsel Gallery
Director of The Jewellery Museum
Education and Employment
2008: Graduated from Stellenbosch University BA(FA) visual arts
2008 - 2010: Apprenticed at Liz Loubser Designer Jeweller
2010 - 2011: Design and manufacturing mentor for PlatAfrica awards at the University of Stellenbosch
2011: Technical and manufacturing lecturer for 3rd years at University of Johannesburg
2012 - 2013: Design and manufacturing mentor for PlatAfrica awards and platinum technical lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch
2017 - 2020: Director at Studio Loubser, a joint venture of Liz Loubser Designer Jeweller and Eric Loubser Design
2008 - present: Owner of Eric Loubser Design
Exhibitions
2008: “Inventions: The University of Stellenbosch at the Gold of Africa museum”, Cape Town, South Africa
2008: “GradEx 2008”, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2009: “Six Small Stories”, Artspace, Johannesburg, South Africa
2009: Design Idaba, Cape Town, South Africa
2010: “Cute show”, Salon 91, Cape Town, South Africa
2010: “Dichotomies in Objects: Contemporary South African Studio Jewelry from the Stellenbosch Area”, Velvet da Vinci Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2010: “Dichotomies in Objects: Contemporary South African Studio Jewelry from the Stellenbosch Area”, The Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH, USA
2010: “Dichotomies in Objects: Contemporary South African Studio Jewelry from the Stellenbosch Area”, The National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis, TN, USA
2011: “Lagd I Verden” (Made in the World), Oslo, Norway
2011: Design Idaba, Cape Town, South Africa
2012: “Welkom/Welcome”, Liz Loubser Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2013: “68 Earings/68 Artists”, Liz Loubser Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2014: “55 Necklaces/55 Artists”, Liz Loubser Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2015: “Tableaux”, Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2015: “Precious Obsession”, Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2015: “Fix”, Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2016: “Portraits”, Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2017: “100% New”, Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2018: “En Masse”, Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2019: “Gone But Not Forgotten” solo show at Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2019: “Now-Now” exhibition of South African contemporary jewellery, San W Gallery, Shanghai, China
2019: “A Perfect Pair”, Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2020: Covid 19, World
2021: Tinsel 15 year group show, Tinsel Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2022: “Up and down” a group exhibition of south African and Danish artists, Goldfingers Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark and Tinsel gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2022: “Frame” a group show with Tinsel gallery, Munich, Germany
2022: “Lisbon Biennale” Alice Floriano Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal
2023: “Frame” a group show with Tinsel gallery, Munich, Germany
2023: “Fils et liens” a group show at Gallery Kara and Gallery ,Paris, France
2023: “smilie face” deu solo show at Gallery Alice Floriano, Porto Alegre, Brazil
2023: “5x5” a group show gallery Vice Versa, ,Switzerland
2023: “Alliances” a group sow with Borax Gallery, Vevey, Switzerland
Prizes
2008: PlatAfrica, Technical excellence award, student category
2010: PlatAfrica, Technical excellence and manufacturing award, professional category
2012: Nominated for most beautiful object in South Africa by Chris Roper (Mail & .Guardian online editor).
2023: Schmuck, Munich, Germany
Permanent Collections
The National Museum of Art, Design and Architecture, Oslo, Norway
The Jewellery Museum, Johannesburg, South Africa
Publications
2008: Compendium finale of contemporary jewellers, Darling Publications
2013: Contemporary jewelry in perspective, Lark books