“A Story of Hands”: The Poetics of Craft and Light

In “A Story of Hands“, the act of making becomes a language of its own. Born from a collaboration with Ukrainian jewelry designer Anastassiiya Slanko and photographer Marc T’Syen, the series unfolds as a meditation on touch, transformation, and the silent eloquence of crafted form.

Slanko works with noble materials, silver, gold, and platinum, guided by the rigour of classical craftsmanship yet animated by a resolutely contemporary sensibility. Her pieces carry both heritage and innovation, echoing a lineage of makers while leaning toward the present moment.

Photographed by Marc T’Syen, the project draws visual inspiration from the 1930s grammar of French photographer François Kollar, whose industrial still lifes redefined the aesthetics of labor and material. Here, the camera turns not merely to document jewelry, but to elevate it, transforming the object into an artefact, a vessel of memory and meaning.

The series adopts the meticulous discipline of still-life photography: contrasts of light and shadow, focus and blur, precision and ambiguity. Each frame is shaped by a choreography of illumination, where tonal subtleties evoke the texture of silver, the warmth of skin, the quiet weight of gold. Together, these elements create a cinematic, nostalgic resonance, an atmosphere suspended between dream and document.

The hands themselves, vintage mannequin forms from the late 1960s, sourced from a flea market, become characters within the narrative. Their surfaces bear traces of time, suggesting both elegance and unease. They are graceful yet ghostly, evoking an almost forensic intimacy, as though holding fragments of forgotten gestures.

“My work is infused with everyday, almost imperceptible symbolism. I draw inspiration from art, history, science, anthropology, pre history, natural forms, and the small but beautiful details of daily life. These subtle elements, often overlooked, shape the emotional language of my pieces.

I’m fascinated by the symbols and archetypal forms that have followed humanity for centuries, the quiet visual codes we subconsciously absorb simply because they have always been part of our shared existence. Every piece I create, every project, every object, is a metaphor, a way for me to communicate with the world and express myself, my emotions, and my ideas.”
Anastassiiya Slanko

Ultimately, “A Story of Hands” is less a study of objects than of presence. It reflects on the human impulse to shape, adorn, and preserve, the subtle dialogue between material and maker, artifact and aura.

Created as an editorial, the series stands as a testament to the enduring beauty of craft seen through a cinematic lens, a quiet homage to the hands that create and the light that remembers.