RSK Design & PhotographyRinske is a charming lady who cannot sit still. Hong Kong is very lucky to witness her package of creativity - starting from full time focus on interior design, continuing to captivating not only black and white photography, crafting leather bags on planes to melting silver and shaping a new wave of unique jewellery. We sat down in Rinske’s office based in Quarry Bay and talked about her creative journey, the love for not being able to sit still and the dedication to her various crafts. You lived in Hong Kong for a while now, right? Yes, for 11 years now. It’s very different from before I came here. What was your intention or expectation before you moved to Hong Kong? Well, I had none. The expectation was more of a vision of a classic Hong Kong story. I came here with my ex boyfriend and we were supposed to stay here only for a year and all of a sudden it grew into eleven years. But we split during then - he moved on, found a new partner, he lives in Bangkok now and I clearly stayed here. I got myself a very very nice partner now as well. Big change between then and now? There were hardly any coffee shops and (Western) bakeries. Well, you know what it’s like now! So you moved originally from Holland? Yes I actually never even worked in Holland, Hong Kong was my first work experience. Have you been doing your jewellery before you moved to Hong Kong? No at all, I’m a linguist French and I studied European studies along with Spanish. I always wanted to make jewellery though. 8 years ago I started making leather bags and later turned it to a social enterprise in which I wanted to give women of HK a chance to come together, learn a new craft and earn a salary. The bags I sold in HK. My then day job got in the way as I travelled 70% of my time through Asia. I had to put that on the backburner, but the wish to do this again is very much still alive. During my previous employment I always brought my camera and further developed my photography skills. A few months ago, I decided it was time to give the jewelry a try, since we can’t travel anywhere. How do you resource the leather for your bags? So the leather I buy in Sham Shui Po. It’s super cool and very local. They have everything there that you need on the creative side of things. And it’s awesome for photography as well. It has a lot of history there. Has this always been more of a hobby? Have you may be considered having all of these interests as a full time job? I don't know. Perhaps. Photography for sure as I’ve been doing it professionally for longer. But Hong Kong is very expensive, so I don’t dare quitting a stable income quite yet. That’s a shame because when I have a look for example at your jewellery, it is so unique and different that it would be 100% worth considering. It’s very decadent! How do you bring your inspiration into the jewellery? It developed from very simple craft into making it a bit more intricate. About a week ago I wanted to start melting silver. I wanted to see what would happen and if I could do it. I loved the result! keep teaching myself about everything, really ; soldering, polishing, melting etc. And I love the fact that it may be seen as a modern art - the shapes of the jewellery are free to interpret for each individual. I’ve noticed your work thanks to jewellery - but the creative process as itself started way beforehand… Yes, so at the moment I run a furniture business. This is what I do on an 80 hour week basis, however, my hands are never not moving. I’m always either making something out of leather, jewellery, or I’m busy with photography. Even during my previous job when I travelled a lot, I always took a leather bag in the making and my camera with me. I also may have bought a 45 kilo bag with cement and I’m so excited about what I can create out of this. You asked me about inspiration, I’m not sure where it comes from. But sometimes I tell my partner, I need to make something, NOW! My next project is ‘sand casting’, with which you can ‘copy’ shapes if you will. I’m so excited for the result! How long do you think it’s going to take? Me too, I’m getting my supplies this week. I’ve read that to some people it goes really well or horribly wrong. So we’ll see! I love the fact that you’re also not trying to create art to necessarily target people; I feel like your work is going to attract the right kind of people. Oh yes absolutely, although it definitely would be cool to eventually sell, however, it’s not my priority at the moment. I just really love making and creating things. It’s very therapeutic! It’s also very interesting to see what people like and what they would pick for them to wear, to hang or just purely have in their home. Absolutely! So, it’s furniture, photography, leather bags and jewellery making. What a unique package! (takes her phone and shows me photos). Well you know I’ve always been taken by life a lot. These are the bags (shows me her Instagram profile for leather bags and fashion). I always want to do and make stuff - I guess I’m a lot like my mum - never sits still. What a variety! For example, these pictures were taken in Miami at the Wynwood Walls. These ballerinas were taking selfies in front of a beuatifully painted wall. They saw me with my camera and asked if I would take photos of them. So I helped them out with taking their photos but also asked them if they wouldn't mind posing with one of my leather bags. Quid Pro Quo. Back to your jewellery you had a chance to have a stand on Lamma Island? A friend on lamma organised a pre-Christmas market whilst supporting a charity, ‘Living Lamma’. I had a ton of bags still (from the Social Enterprise project) and I made a lot of silver Christmas trees. It was a really lovely and successful experience! How long does it take to make one bag? It depends on the size. This one (shows me a photo of a leather bag) took me about 12 hours, I made it on a flight from Hong Kong to the Netherlands. The smallest one would take about an hour? Oh wow I really would love to sit next to you as a passenger and see how you make the leather bag! (laughs) Quite a lot of people were intrigued, even the flight attendants! I’d love to eventually do some workshops as well. It would be brilliant if we would be able to organize something through Creative Womxn! So, if we go back to photography - you’ve done photography before you moved to Hong Kong? Yeah, I always have loved photography. When I was young, we (my parents and brother) would travel to a new European country every summer. My parents always encouraged us to make a travel diary out of these journeys. We would get a notebook, a throw away camera, some games and info about the country. Looking back at the results, my brother (now laywer) always had tons of text. I usually had very little text, and lots of photos. Since I started travelling on my own I bought a small digital camera to be as practical as possible. I could always carry it with me. I was always on the road and always going places so I didn’t really want anything heavy to carry. Then, one day it broke, and I thought it was time to get a big one and got the “real deal”. I got my first exhibition last year actually. It was a proper solo show organized by a international gallery. I had photos published before but this was my first physical show. Very exciting but scary at the same time. I took these photos for whomever wants to see them, but it can still become very personal. And vulnerable at the same time, right? Yeh, I guess so. I’m usually fairly okay with people disliking me or disliking stuff but when you put your own works out there in the world, the negative feedback can kind of sucks, right? But thankfully everyone said they really liked it (laughs). Most of your photos are black and white. Is there any particular reason or idea behind this aesthetic? I think it’s easy to like photos in colour, which is absolutely perfect and I think they're absolutely stunning. But I think when it comes to black and white, the object must be really nice. Ohh - how would You define “nice”? Well that’s individual, isn't it. But if you look at the photos it challenges your ability to imagine. This one particularly (points on the large print in her office of a white tall building captured on the ray of sunlight from a dark Hong Kong urban street) challenges you and lets you appreciate the light much more. There can be many ways of seeing this. For example another photo of mine (shows a picture of a baby girl on her Instagram account) - if it was in colour, this would take away the whole attention from the the picture. By eliminating colour, the audience does not get distracted but focusses on what is actually happening in the picture. And it feels like you captured the emotion without distractions… Could be. I would never put any opinions of mine on someone. I like how it's appealing to people in their own way. For instance – I chose linguistics over literature as I would find it really hard to interpret and work with people who would say “but oh this author wrote this and meant that” - I would say “but who knows, it depends how you interpret it”. I leave it up to people. People always have their own stories in their perceptions. Your main inspiration is obviously travel and whatever captures your eye? I look differently at things around me when I have my camera. When people usually walk on the streets they're on their phones and they don't necessarily look around what's happening around them. But when you actually look for things that are interesting, there is so much to offer. I am inspired by what I see or what is happening around me. If you would put many photographers next to each other to focus on one thing, everyone’s capture is going to be completely different, and their focus will be on something else. I love that. Would you think that you follow your intuition and act upon your impulses? Yes - but only when it comes to art, probably not in regular life (laughs). Hong Kong was pretty much shut within borders for about 2 years now. Have you had a chance to perceive Hong Kong differently during this time - especially through your photography?
Yes, but I wouldn't say it's all positive. We are lucky that we have been shielded from the horrors in Europe. But I wish there was more flexibility to travel again. The restrictions are tricky for the furniture business and I miss my family. They haven't even met my partner yet. I really would love to be able to come back and give my friends and family at home a big hug, I haven't seen them for about 3 years. What would you think was the most frustrating thing about it? It’s tricky, business suffer, communities change as people are leaving. You really have to adapt. Don't get me wrong, at the beginning I enjoyed being at home and being with Lucy and our dogs. But together we want to go out, travel and do stuff. I wanted to ask you about the future and the inspiration in your next work…what are your plans? Are you planning your next exhibition? Yes, I would hope so. The gallery that organized my show is amazing, but they specialise in other areas, not in photography. I hope to find another photography gallery who would be interested in my work! But it’s challenging, so many people have cameras now and the pictures on social media are exceptional. But not everyone has your perception and your eyes the way you see the world. Yes, that’s true. So I would love to go back to Holland eventually and bring my camera too. If nothing changes. But it’s all up in the air but in Hong Kong there are so many chances and opportunities which make me very hopeful. It’s all about networking and new relationships here. Follow Rinske on her Instagram Pages: Jewellery: @rsk_design_hk Photography: @rsk_hk_moments Website:https://www.rskmoments.com/hong-kong
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AuthorAlex Edwards is a founder of Creative Womxn in Hong Kong who has media and journalism background but also experience in art community development and social media management. Archives
November 2022
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