The Artist’s profile
Ute Decker (b. 1969, Germany) lives and works in London. Her sculptural jewellery is exhibited internationally and is part of major private and public collections, including: The Victoria and Albert Museum, London UK, Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva, Switzerland, The Swiss National Museum, Zurich, Switzerland, and the Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, USA. Most recently, Decker has been working on a special commission for The Dallas Museum of Art, Texas USA. She is represented by Elisabetta Cipriani, London and also collaborates with leading international design gallery Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Objects Beautiful Gallery is presenting Decker’s work for the first time at Collect 2025, London, and Schmuck 2025, Munich.
The triggers to become an artist
” I never wanted to be an artist. ” – Ute Decker
Self-taught, it began with occasional evening classes. A quiet pursuit, a hidden creative escape for nearly 20 years – never intended for a public. Then, in 2009, at the age of 40, a tiny exhibition led to an amazing response, then several other exhibitions followed … These miniature artforms have simply captivated me. It’s a strange and wonderful paradox: deeply intimate and personal, yet inherently social, even political. I see my work as invitations to make connections. The interaction between wearer, viewer, as well as the materiality itself has the power to spark conversations. For me, it’s as much about the journey as the destination. The slow, mindful process of creation, allowing the intuitive to dialogue with the emerging forms – on good days – it’s an enriching, almost, meditative experience. To see someone wear one of my pieces, to see the joy it gives them, how it has become part of their story, that’s such a fulfilling reward. It’s more than just making jewellery for me; it’s my way of being in this world. I am so glad my rational reluctance eventually gave the hiding artist a chance.
Environmental Concerns
In 2011, Decker made history as one of the first jewellers in the world to work with fully traceable, certified Fairtrade gold. Her ring, The Curling Crest of a Wave, 2015, became the first Fairtrade Gold jewellery piece in The Victoria & Albert Museum’s permanent collection. Gold is not simply a metal. No other element contains such a rich mixture of history and myth, uselessness and value, beauty and horror. Beneath its gleaming surface, gold holds dark tales of conquest, colonialism, environmental degradation, and the misery of indigenous peoples. But Decker believes by asking questions and choosing to know exactly where your gold (or any other material) comes from, it can equally become a force for good and empowerment.
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Ute Decker, born in Worms, Germany.
Education and Activities
2009 -today Jewellery & sculpture – self-taught and various masterclasses
2009 -today Researcher, educator and speaker
1992 -today Freelance journalist (occasionally)
1996 MA Political Economics, University of Hamburg
A selection of my exhibitions and group exhibitions are; 2025 Dallas Museum of Art, USA Rose-Asenbaum Collection exhibition, title tbc / 2016 – 2024 Design Miami, Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Miami / 2011-2017 2019-2024 Goldsmiths’ Fair, London / 2024 Salon Art + Design, Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, New York / 2024 Jewellery by Sculptors and Painters at Venice Biennale Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, Venice / 2020, 2024, 2025 Collect Art Fair, the Goldsmiths Company, London/ Objects Beautiful Gallery / 2019-2023 PAD London, Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, London / 2023 Parcours Bijoux, Art Jewellery Triennale, Paris / 2023 Museum of Art & Design, MAD about Jewellery, New York / 2013 – 2022 Design Basel, Didier London, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, Basel / 2022 Solo exhibition, Ute Decker – Creating Waves, Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, London / 2021 Force of Nature -Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery, London, curated by Melanie Grant / 2021 – 2022 Rings! 1968 – 2001 curated by Helen Drutt, touring: Metal Museum, Memphis; Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Philadelphia, Moore College of Art & Design, USA / 2021 The Brooch Unpinned: The Goldsmiths’ Company Collection 1961–2020, London / 2021 The Society of Jewellery Historians, Artist Lecture, London
Talks & Guest Lectures-selection
Royal College of Art, Central St Martins, Responsible Jewelry Council, Initiatives in Art and Culture,
Ethical Making Symposium, New York Jewelry Week, GemX, Goldsmiths’ Fair, Goldsmiths’ Centre
Society of Jewellery Historians
Memberships-selection
Association for Contemporary Jewellery, UK – Advisory Panel, Art Jewelry Forum – Artist Member, Artist
Network – Member, Society of Jewellery Historians, UK – Member
