Reviews

Dear Stanislav,

I am sending you these lines with great pleasure.

It was great luck to meet you many years ago in Idar-Oberstein and to discuss your creative future with you and influence it. For me, you belong to one of the big names in this world today! I am very proud of you, your beautiful creations and your lovely family. From the bottom of my heart I wish you the best of luck on your further creative path, also on behalf of Bärbel.

Pendant "Striving for the stars, over Ukraine". Dedicated to my friend Stanislav.

In friendship,

André

Stanislav Drokin is an outstanding personality and one of the great jewellery designers of our time.

I've known him for many years, and I know about his apprenticeship years, which he also spent in Idar-Oberstein. In addition to his craftsmanship as a goldsmith, he started to work early on with modern materials and contemporary techniques.

His unique selling point is the perfect combination of modern, innovative design, traditional craftsmanship and openness to computer-based design and production techniques.

With his jewellery pieces he plays in the league of "Haute Joaillerie", the world's best jewellers.

His style is timelessly modern, inspired by the endless shapes and colours of nature, which he interprets organically to abstract like no other.

His attention to detail, including creation of beauty and precision down to the last corner of the invisible sides of his jewellery, reflects his inner attitude. He is an artist through and through.

We are united by our love for colourful gemstones.

It is always a real pleasure to follow your creations on Facebook, within the framework of our common friendship and esteem. Learn now about the exhibition that traces your career as a sublime goldsmith, who not only dedicates his knowledge to the purest and most original design but which places a continuous research on the techniques, that are the basis of the work as goldsmiths.

Expert goldsmiths who consider the jewel not only an ornament but also and even more a work of art. A work of art that involves ingenuity and practice with sublime results.

Worthy heir of the remarkable goldsmith tradition that sees its great architect in the figure of Gustav Fabergé who had the only advantage of having clients of great economic availability.

Working with fine natural materials is a job reserved for a few. Among the few there is your work!

In the collection of the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine there are more than 56,000 items made of gold, silver and precious stones. The exhibits are connected with Ukrainian history and represent the process of development of jewellery art in Ukraine. The exhibition of the museum also helps to discover the spirit of the people who lived here in the past. Thus, more than 2,400 years ago an unknown jeweller created the pectoral – the most famous exhibit of the museum's collection. It was found in 1971. This breast decoration is the message from the past and archaeologists have been trying to read it during the last 50 years.

This jubilee year of the pectoral unearthing is an important year for the museum. The researchers of the museum looked for the special modern jeweller, whose creative DNA carries hereditary information and development program for the future generations. The choice fell on the artist-jeweller Stanislav Drokin. So, the exhibition "Stanislav Drokin – The Author's DNA" takes place during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the unearthing the pectoral in hall #9 of the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine.

Stanislav Drokin is a well-known Ukrainian artist-jeweller, the member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, the Union of Designers of Ukraine, organizer of art events and exhibitions. What components are included in the DNA of the talented artist?

Stanislav was born and lives in Kharkiv. This city is known as a city of multiculturalism, urbanism and innovations. The atmosphere left an imprint on the artist’s character as a person who does not want to be "like everyone else." The picturesque nature of Ukraine has taught him to notice the beauty of the environment, to look into its details.

The family contributed to the growth of Stanislav his the mother Aneta was a kindergarten teacher, and his father Anatoliy worked as a toolmaker at the Radiodetal Factory. There was a brigade of engravers. The young man started to work there after school. The brigade was led by Victor Vergazov - Stanislav's first teacher. He showed him a complex engraving technique. Later engraver Alexander Suprunenko showed him how to make jewellery.

The work as an engraver helped Stanislav Drokin to gain patience and perseverance - the key to success. He discovered the potential of metal as a material for creativity. Over time, Stanislav created his first original piece – a brass ring with an engraved floral ornament and the monogram.

Important personalities for Stanislav were people who helped him choose the way. In 1994, at the exhibition "Stone Colours of Ukraine", he met Volodymyr Indutny. Later the scientist wrote an article about Stanislav. The article became a kind of prophecy, since it revealed the periods of his creative path: the first - learning on the examples of classical art, the second - the movement in the rhythm of modern trends, the third - embodiment of his standards of beauty in jewellery.

The meeting with André Enskat helped Stanislav to change his style. In 1999, in the German city of Idar-Oberstein, Stanislav took a monthly training for the examination and evaluation of diamonds. There he met the famous jeweller André Enskat. André liked the works of the young Ukrainian artist, and advised him not to focus on the "antique" style, but to look for his own way to express beauty, to communicate with the world through art.

Understanding the importance of education, in 2001 Stanislav entrolled in the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts and obtained a master's degree with honours in design.

Stanislav formed as an artist-jeweller also during jewellery contests. The first important victory was the first place in the jewellery contest in Kharkiv in 1999. During the following years the talented artist-jeweller used modern techniques, experimented with new forms, which brought him a lot of victories in Ukrainian contests in Odessa, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and later –  in the world. Thus, in 2013-2014 he received the Luster Award of the International Pearl Design Contest (USA), in 2014 he won the Centurion Emerging Designer Awards (USA), and also received the Gold Award at the Solidscape 2014 Baselworld Design Contest (Switzerland).

An important result of creative research was creation of the method of hybrid casting. After Stanislav started to use his new method, he learned about the existence of a similar method of bimetallic casting of ganga-jumna in India. The method of casting metal into metal is difficult, requires knowledge, experience and a lot of time. It is still impossible to reproduce such a method with modern technology.

In 2016 Stanislav conducted the first experiment in metal casting and created the ring "Hybrid casting #1: Lunar path". He called this technique a method of hybrid casting and in 2018 he presented the results of experiments at the exhibition in Milan. The world community commended the ring "Hybrid casting #2: Carménère" (hybrid casting of yellow and rose gold) and the ring "Hybrid casting #3: Two rivers" (hybrid casting of copper and yellow gold), and Stanistav got the award of the contest "Artistar Jewels 2018".

Soon he created the ring "Nest", which combines titanium and yellow gold. Experiments with titanium strips curved like origami, masterful metal processing as well as, deep meaning of the jewellery brought the artist another victory - second place in the category "Alternative Metals and Materials" at the "2020 Saul Bell Design Award Competition" in Albuquerque (USA) in 2020.

Stanislav moves ahead of his time. Often there is no name for what he creates. Therefore, he introduced his definitions for the bimetallic casting.

The author's works presented at the exhibition "Stanislav Drokin – The Author's DNA" show that the jewellery art of Ukraine is a powerful artistic phenomenon. Millennial history gives modern artists the confidence that there is nothing impossible in the art. The Ukrainian jewellery art is based on the desire to engrave beauty in precious materials, to find new forms and techniques, to talk to the world on the language of art. 

In the ring "Secret of the Universe" Stanislav used gold, diamonds and moldavite (tektite). The semantic depths of the ring lie in the materials: gold is the metal of the Sun, diamond was "born" in the depth of the Earth, and moldavite appeared in the time of collision of a meteorite with the planet's surface... When the ray of the sun touches the surface of the stone and reaches the gold, it then reflects with a mysterious green colour - the colour of life. And the surface of the ring looks like a living organism, covered with veins, or magma, which goes out through the kimberlite pipes, or molten rock, which was formed by impact with a cosmic body.

Life is a real secret. It is often disharmonious, but there are places on the planet considered as the centres of harmony. The ring "Hunza Valley" is dedicated to such place. In the highlands of Kashmir, where the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and Karakorum converge, lies a valley inhabited by the Hunza people, who live very long lives. In the ring this magic valley is depicted as shining opal surrounded by the life-giving colours of garnets, tourmalines, sapphires, diamonds and peridots.

The work "Inheritance and variability" is devoted to the mystery of life. What do we have as heredity and what can be changed? Where is the limit beyond which it is impossible to make a choice? People kill each other because of religions, the desire of power and domination on the Earth, with their excessive consumption they destroy the environment. Can a person's consciousness change the life program aimed at primitive profit and replace it with a constructive worldview based on the values ​​of creativity and self-expressions? There is a positive answer in jewellery: you can change the world starting with yourself, spreading love and harmony, peace and decency.

The main message that is read in the works of Stanislav Drokin is that - a creative approach to life changes reality. 

The exhibition is dedicated to the work of the artist-jeweller Stanislav Drokin. It is a demonstration of the history of development of the contemporary man worldview in the modern environment, who finds signs of beauty in rational and approachable, and what is expressed in perfect forms, bright and meaningful - in generally understandable symbols, ways of objectifying deep experiences and individual emotions. This is the worldview of the artist, his holistic, free, and devoid of any bias personality.

In Stanislav Drokin’s creative paradigm, jewellery has reached perfection and exceptionally performs its main function – it meets the most important humanitarian needs of a modern person – it provides a symbolic connection of feelings and analytical thinking, helps to realize a worthy self-presentation in society, stimulates a sense of communion with universally recognized values and ideals, and allows you to distinguish the beautiful from the mundane. 

Stanislav Drokin's jewellery art allows the observer to conclude that modern art, in all its vast diversity, should not be compared with the art of the past or with the one that was observed 10-20 years ago. Responding to the realities of the global informational space and the general accessibility of the study of cultural traditions of many nations of the world, modern art has already separated itself from many established ideas – has acquired a new educational, communicative and cognitive content – it is a tool for civilizational unity and mutual enrichment of the world culture and, finally, it has become accessible to the general public. Now it is clearly polythetic – implementation of a wide variety of topics and creative ideas, stylistic integration and synthesis in the field of revealing artistic images, a wide range of technical solutions and modeling, an unlimited variety of materials, and the generation of new product groups. 

So, Stanislav Drokin reinterpreted and improved the ancient Indian casting technique "Ganga-Jumna" and also implemented it in some jewelry works, starting a new stylistic direction in jewelry art – "motive in motive". At the same time, this achievement is harmoniously combined with modern, purely author's casting technologies, which are observed in his earlier works. The ideas embodied in these products vary widely – the theme is represented by abstract, floral, and other motifs; precious stones mined in different parts of the world, as well as non-ferrous metals that are not considered precious, are widely used.  

Traditional ideas about the value of precious stones and precious metals in the works of Stanislav Drokin, as well as modern jewelry art, have changed significantly and given way to ideas about the properties of relationships – connection to unique natural monuments, exotic countries, significant historical events, outstanding people, global commercial projects and social phenomena, company logos and new groups of luxury goods. An example of this is the ring "The Fifth Continent" with a charming Australian Opal, striking in its color scheme and play of light, as well as a selection of precious stones and a fantastic artistic solution that combines ancient, latest, and still unknown traditions and motifs. 

The author's creative style and the expressive stylistic difference of Stanislav Drokin's creative heritage is the use of new technological achievements and clear and optimistic symbolism, which is easily perceived and easily recognized by the observer – expressed in a concise and perfect form of the product, bright colors of precious stones, professionally selected in size, cut, color and a variety of methods of gem setting. The author does not try to minimize his jewelry pieces but does not exaggerate their size. 

These intrinsic signs of Stanislav Drokin's work attest to the compliance of his works with the best examples of modern jewelry art, thematic relevance, and, without any doubt, his great contribution to the world of jewelry art.

An Ukrainian master designer, jeweller and gemologist of the world, Mr. Stanislav Drokin impresses all of us with his combination of craftsmanship and innovations. I always felt stunned by his experimental practices with gemstones that in his hands, they are no more static objects but instilled with life and passion, expressing their own feelings and personalities. 

As an active artist internationally, Mr. Stanislav Drokin has won Baselworld awards for several times and participated and had his jewellery artworks displayed in our previous International Exhibition of Traditional Fine Arts in Shanghai, which were widely recognized by the jewellery lovers in China for their unique style and innovative design. 

This year, we invited him again to participate in our 11th International Exhibition of Traditional Fine Arts, due to pandemic, to have two pieces of his unique jewellery works shown online. I believe audiences from all around the world will be fascinated by them! 

Art is a common language across borders and pursuit of beauty, moreover, transcends all nations. 

Hereby from Shanghai I send my congratulation and best wishes to his "Stanislav Drokin - The Author's DNA" exhibition. Meanwhile, I wish the Ukrainian people will win the battle against the pandemic soon and let’s hope for a better tomorrow!

Stanislav Drokin is one of the few avant-garde jewellery artists who has the ability to surprise us with his creations time and again. 

His genius lies in making engaging pieces that arise out of his philosophical ruminations. The Ukrainian maestro is a staunch advocate of individuality and encourages self-expression in order to present a design perspective that’s singular in nature.

His masterpieces highlight his technical virtuosity, extraordinary handcrafting skills, and his childlike curiosity to experiment with metalsmithing, gems, engraving, casting and adopting newer techniques. His contemporary and complex creations are infused with emotions conveyed through form and colour. 

Patience, perseverance, and precision are the three mantras he holds close to his heart to create futuristic jewellery.  

He is truly a master of high art. I wish the maestro good luck for the "Stanislav Drokin - The Author's DNA" exhibition and hope that we have the good fortune of seeing his artworks in person in the near future.

A wonderful designer, world-class jewellery artist, Stanislav Drokin, is not deprived of the attention of the press and experts; there are many admirers of his work. 

At all professional exhibitions and symposia, Stanislav is open and shares his skills with colleagues and curious people. 

He is an innovator in research and experimentation.  In Drokin's work, technology has not replaced art and craftsmanship. The author's vision of the trends in the development of modern jewellery art is fully realized in his work. His works are not only jewellery, but works of modern art. He's comfortable in a professional environment, as he has a lot of knowledge on materials and technology. Stanislav's method of double hybrid casting: metal-to-metal casting has opened up new possibilities in jewellery art.

His works show uncompromising lightness, improvisation, based on a deep understanding of the traditions and innovation of jewellery art, the sensuality of development prospects.  The inner world of the designer is expressed in his exclusive creative techniques, some of which have not existed before in the jewellery craft.

Stanislav Drokin's pieces have reached the desired level of perfection and are not only objects of material value, but also examples of high modern art.

The variety of themes and creative ideas, the diversity of materials used, reveal to us his inner world and true talent. The artist has long ago defined the stages of his creative life for himself: the period of testing of the creative forces; working in line with the times and fashion; the stage of expression of deep feelings and his interpretation of beauty. The first two stages have been successfully completed a long time ago, and the third stage is his current creative path. 

Stanislav is a great organizer of creative events, promotions, and high-level exhibitions. 

The works of Stanislav Drokin can be attributed to the best pieces of jewellery in Ukraine, and his huge contribution to the development of domestic and international jewellery art is well noted and widely appreciated.

"People will look at you one way or another. It is in your power to ensure that their time is not wasted." Harry Winston. Jeweller.

Stanislav Drokin is a world-famous Ukrainian artist, a jeweller by vocation, a modern and gifted man, an artist who radiates the sun, gives people a smile, beauty, unforgettable emotions and incredible impressions. Having created himself, having passed a difficult and thorny path of development from the acquisition of deep theoretical and scientific knowledge in the field of jewellery design and professional skills in mastering high technology and valuation of precious metals and gemstones, he remains a simple, kind and intelligent man written with “Capital letter”.

His name is known all over the world, his jewellery has repeatedly been praised by the most demanding international experts and received awards at the most prestigious exhibitions, exhibited in many galleries around the world, published in world magazines and catalogs. The jewellery of this recognized and outstanding artist-jeweller always embodies a high artistic idea, which takes place somewhere between logic and intuition, the design varies between classic and vintage, the complexity of the work - between casual and catwalk. The artistic idea, which characterizes the state of mind of the master, reflects the most secret desires of the consumer. However, the obvious main thing is that this is modern works of high world-class jewellery, which are exclusive, original and unique.

In his work Stanislav uses handcraft, personally developed unique technology of sequential casting, colorless and colored gemstones and opals, various types of artistic decoration of precious metals with a wide range and depth of finish.

The main source of inspiration for the master is the deep spirituality and rich imagination, as well as the boundless world of nature. Hence the plots of jewellery - cross "Star of Bethlehem", brooch-pendant "Chrysanthemum", rings: "Australian Night", "Frog", "Medusa”, “Aphrodite", "Victoria", "Evolution", "Decuman Wave", brooch "Small bouquet", etc. Each piece of jewelry is endowed with symbolism, which brings luck, happiness, wealth to the owner, protects and helps in business, becomes family jewellery, passed on to heirs.

I was terribly lucky to witness the formation of this wonderful talented artist-jeweller, appreciate his wonderful jewellery and go with him the thorny path of acquiring knowledge around the world for 30 years.

I wish my dear friend, Mr. Stanislav, great creative achievements and inspiration in his wonderful work. I am very happy for his significant contribution to the development of culture and art of Ukraine as well as recognition of his work at the world level.

The most important task for an artist is to study and creatively reimagine the achievements of the past. It is very important in the era of globalization when each culture integrates with the general world one. Stanislav Drokin is a jeweller who started with classical forms and techniques and later came to successful findings of his own way. 

The study of traditions and the spirit of experimentation brought Stanislav success: he was one of the first jewellers in Ukraine, who reached world recognition, and now is honourably representing the country and the National Union of Artists of Ukraine at prestigious jewellery contests abroad: in the United States of America, in Switzerland, in Italy. 

Stanislav not only represents Ukrainian culture abroad but also brings home information about innovations in the world. He generously shares this information with people: writes articles, gives lectures, teaching the young generation of Ukrainian jewellers.