ANKIDO STEFAN
Ankido Stefan
Library
2026, copper, brass, felt, linen, cooking thread, fabric, polyester thread,
Keanes white raku clay, 70 x 50 x 50 mm
Photography by Chris Bowes.
ARTIST STATEMENT
ANKIDO STEFAN
Library is comprised of Bookshelf, Bamboo Slips, Clay Tablets, Scrolls, Books. The work mainly uses copper, fabric, and thread with smaller uses of clay, and glue. The work takes inspiration from the history of texts and how information is stored and transferred. I wished to explore different ways we as humans have tried to keep information as a digital medium and started with one of the earliest forms through using actual clay to make tablets to scrolls and bamboo slips, ending in books. Copper as a metal is intrinsically tied to antiquity in a way few materials are and through history it takes form into different avenues of collecting knowledge.
PROFILE
Ankido Stefan is a Melbourne-based contemporary jewellery and object maker, and a first-generation Iraqi Australian born to refugee parents. His practice centres on the relationship between jewellery and the body, using adornment to express connections to history, culture, mythology, and religion. Drawing on pop culture influences, he reimagines familiar aesthetics into pieces that carry deeper meaning, while also exploring his Iraqi heritage. Inspired by his mother’s beading practice, making became central to his creative identity. Working with materials including enamel (cloisonné), patina, clay, and metal, he creates pieces that connect materiality, memory, and cultural narrative.
