History and tradition lie at the heart of Willemijn de Greef’s jewellery. Her work is large, potent and weaves together memories, thoughts, family and history. Using rope, ceramic, glass and metals, she recollects her grandmother’s jewellery collection, traditional Dutch costumes, the Steenbergen Ropemakers of Gorssel and the fishermen of the Zuiderzee. She focuses on details, enlarging and simplifying them and bringing them to our attention – the cut of a precious stone, the decoration on a pair of wedding clogs. 

Willemijn was born in the Dutch town of Boxtel in 1973. Following her vocational training at Schoonhoven, she continued her studies at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, graduating in 2006. Her work is held in a number of Dutch collections including the Marzee Collection, TextielMuseum Tilburg, Zuiderzeemuseum and CODA Museum.