Isabelle Azaïs

The Artist’s profile

The unclassified jewelry of Isabelle AZAÏS has been presented at many of the major art and design fairs. Recognized for her colorful aesthetic, she works exclusively with recycled materials, which she re-imagines and elevates. Interconnecting fashion with activism, her jewelry reflects contemporary issues with fantasy and optimism.

Isabelle AZAIS “ennobles” plastic waste. The “mutant coral” jewelry series was created to address the problem of plastic bags which are too often found in the oceans. The artist has created a fiction in which the smallest life forms in the future will use our plastic beads to rebuild their habitat. Life will still be there, perhaps in an environment too toxic for humans and animals, but still there, without us. Mutant corals crystallize with a discourse that is both fanciful and serious, optimistic and cynical.

The triggers to become an artist

Initially trained in the technical profession of construction, I then joined the Toulouse School of Fine Arts and a Master’s degree in Nantes (France). It was only in 2005 that I arrived in the Craft, by creating a collection of leather jewelry, cut from scraps from other craftsmen. In 2015 I felt the need to change materials and wanted to explore the potential of plastic, and to continue working with decommissioned materials. Today it is part of BeCraft Belgium, and the jewelry is selected for numerous collective or individual exhibitions in Europe. Since its success at MAD in NY, the invitations have been numerous.

Environmental Concerns

At a time when gold adornments and diamonds sit in safes, our generation is questioning the endless exploitation of mineral wealth, human slavery and environmental pollution. With more and more plastics invading the oceans and our very bodies, our generation wants to draw up a new contract with our planet and see plastic waste as the resource material of the future. It’s a paradigm shift, a search for another kind of beauty. A beauty that reflects a global awareness because every one of our actions has meaning and value.

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Isabelle Azaïs, born in 1965 in Toulouse, France.
Lives and works in Brussels since 2000.

A selection of my exhibitions and group exhibitions are; 2025 Objects Beautiful Gallery (London), / in Collect and Munich Schmuck Fair. / Second Life (Antwerpen). / Galerie Hectare, galerie Indigo Bruxelles. / 2024 Tinka (Portugal). / Venice Jewelry Week, Gallery Carlo Lucidi (Italia). / Munich, with Precious Collective, / Berlin Fashion Week (Allemagne). / Brussels Jewelry Week, Brussels Art Fair, with BeCraft (Belgique). / MAD about jewelry, Museum of art and design (USA). / Dream or reality (Europe travelling exhibition). / 2023 Arte y Joya Award, musée du Design de Madrid. (Espagne). / ADN, espace Solidor, Cagne sur mer, (France). / 2022 Organic (avec Sébastien Carré), Pont and Plas Gallery, Gent. / Natural Matters, Schmuck Munich (Allemagne) / 2021 Wolibo and Co, exhibition Pont and Plas Gallery, Gent. / Musée des égouts de Bruxelles. / 2020 IN/OUT, une exposition hors les murs de BeCRAFT (Bruxelles). / 2019 Galerie Art course, Strasbourg, LIE-E-S (France). / Galerie Contemps : Schmuck-Schmock et The Urban Gleaner (Australie). / Collection permanente Espace Solidor, Cagne sur Mer (France). / 2018 Salon Résonance Strasbourg (France). / 2017 Salon REVELATION, Grand Palais Paris (France). / Salon Louvre Lens (France). / 2016 Musée de Cagne sur mer projet Galerie Alliage (France). / Exposition salon JOYA Barcelone (Espagne). / Exposition Pôle Bijoux contemporain Baccarat (France).

A selection of my painting exhibitions are; 2022 Gallery Mathilde Hatzenberger « Dé-peindre », avec Pierre Martens. / Paris, Gallery MH hors les murs, « made in Bruxelles». / 2021 Peintures abymées, Mathilde Hatzenberger Gallery. / Mascarade 1 et 2 chez Hatzenberger Gallery. / 2020 Flash-back, solo, Mathilde Hatzenberger Gallery. / IN/OUT, une exposition hors les murs de BeCRAFT. / 2019 La fin du monde, Mathilde Hatzenberger Gallery, Bruxelles. / 2018 Centre culturel Jaques Franck. / 1998 Prix salon jeune peinture, Paris, France. / 1995 «Le choix du collectionneur» Espace Cardin, Paris. France.