Doukas, Kirsti

I have designed numerous collections for the private use of companies as well as worked on unique pieces but I am best known in Finland for my jewellery collections for Kalevala Jewelry, such as Naisen ääni, Vanamo and Onerva. Many people also know my collection designed in collaboration with the Savonlinna Opera Festival; in this collection, I designed jewellery lines based on five opening night operas.

It was important for me to attain the qualification of a goldsmith; I would not have been ready to be a designer without the technical knowledge of a goldsmith. After finishing my degree at the Lahti Institute of Design, I did a Master’s degree at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. I have been working at Kalevala Jewelry since 1989 and as their Chief Designer since 1994. The highlights of my professional career include being awarded the title of Goldsmith of the Year by The Finnish Goldsmith Association in 1999 and receiving the State Prize for Design in 2006.

Poetry is often a source of inspiration for my jewellery. My Vanamo collection was inspired by a verse of an Eino Leino (1878-1926) poem called Nocturne. The designs of my Onerva collection made of silver and white porcelain were inspired by the poem Kuurainen Kannel by L. Onerva. The poem begins with a white and frosty state of mind that speaks a language of wintery melancholy, a longing for light and love. An image of the purity of winter and an uninterrupted silence was drawn in my mind and there is something so consoling in that silence.