Elisabeth Drude is a German jewellery maker based in Vienna. After training as a goldsmith, she studied art history, Italian, and history at the University of Cologne, graduating in 1998 with a thesis on iron jewelry. She has been dedicated to her own artistic practice since 2017.
Her jewellery is conceptually driven. Figurative motifs, often animal or bodily forms, are highly abstracted and translated into autonomous, sign-like elements. Through the use of materials such as iron and bone, she creates works of striking clarity and physical presence, characterised by deliberately articulated contrasts.
Elisabeth Drude
born in Germany
lives and works in Vienna
Education
1991 – 1998 Master of Art History, University of Cologne, Master thesis: "Eisenschmuck im 19. Jahrhundert"
1979 – 1983 Apprenticeship as goldsmith
Experience
since 2017 jewellery maker, Vienna (AT)
2017 - 2024 teaching of art and jewellery art, KunstModeDesign Herbststrasse, Vienna (AT)
1999 – 2014 national manager in the jewellery sector (IT)
1983 – 1998 goldsmith in diff. ateliers (DE)
Exhibition
2026
"Rings that Rock" DIVA Museum Antwerpen
"Narrative Space, Encounter" InFlow 2026, Budapest
"Overlap" Plattform Schmuckkunst and AGC, Graz and Milan, Archivio Negroni
"Earring Galore" Heidi Lowe Gallery, Munich Jewellery Week
"Data as Wearable Art", Syldyr Project, Munich Jewellery Week
"Spompanadln" Room to Dream, Munich Jewellery Week
2025
"Earring Galore" Heidi Lowe Gallery, NYCJW
"Lückenfüller" Steuben Gallery, Pratt Institute Brooklyn, NYCJW
"JELO6 Project" Old Nicosia Town Hall, Cyprus
"Data as Wearable Art" National Museum of Kazakhstan, Astana
"Strange Tradition" Plattform Schmuckkunst Graz
"Synergie" Uni.Versus Kunstraum Athen
"Turning Point" Gdańsk Jewellery Week, Poland
"Narrative Space, Transformation" InFlow 2025, Budapest
"Zat. Вещь. Thing" Syldyr Projekt, Almaty, Kazakhstan
"Wow Effect" 33rd International Jewellery Competition, Gallery of Art in Legnica, Poland
"Out of the box" Galerie GEDOK, Munich Jewellery Week
"Chaos & Control" Precious Collective, Munich Jewellery Week / Galerie Lalabeyou Madrid
"Lückenfüller" Room to Dream, Munich Jewellery Week
"Trying on treasure" Photo projekt by Syldyr, Munich Jewellery Week
2024
"Echos of the Untaken Path" Israel Biennale
"Spectrum" Galerie GEDOK, Munich
"Scrumptious: Jewelry as Nourishment“ online exhibition SNAG
"Treasure Island" Syldyr Projekt, Forte Kulanshi Art Space Gallery, Astana, Kazakhstan
"Lückenfüller" Studio Ela Nord, Wien
"Salute" Galerie GEDOK, Munich
“(Un)Avowable Secrets” Alliages, Werkstatt Galerie, Munich Jewellery Week / Chateau-musèe Grimaldi, Cagnes-sur Mer/ Galerie Lalabeyou, Madrid
”Looking for Wonderland” Galerie GEDOK, Munich Jewellery Week
2023
„Truth or Dare“ AdornAxis NYC Jewelry Week
„Memento mori“ Night Shift Studio, Philadephia
„Awe and Alchemy“ ACJ, Armagh, Ireland
„Missing Memories“ Alliages Gallery, Lille / Werkstatt Galerie, Munich Jewellery Week / Melting Point Valencia / Contemporania Barcelona / Galerie Lalabeyou Madrid
„Matter of Form“ AdornAxis NYC, Armory Art Center, Palm Beach / NYCxDESIGN
2022
„Sinn und Wandel“ Gallery Sur, Vienna
„Colorful Recovery“ Israel Biennale, Ramat Hasharon
„PARADOX“ Budapest Jewelry Week
„Porto Joia“ – Feira Internacional de Joalharia, Portugal
2021
„Come Closer“ Galerie Sur, Vienna
„Remote Viewing“ AdornAxis, New York
Romanian Jewelry Week, Bukarest
NYCxDesign, AdornAxis, New York
„Painful Hope“ Alliages Gallery, Lille
2020
„Show us your Rona“ Bridget Kennedy Projekt Space, Sydney
ARTESANIA CATALUNYA – Arts&Crafts Museum Barcelona
JOYA Barcelona
2019
„Kreaturierung“ Galerie Sur, Vienna
„10 Jahre Kolleg KunstSchmuckDesign Herbststrasse“ Museum for Applied Arts, Vienna
Collectiva Meeting 2019, Porto, Portugal
„Red“ Mobilia Gallery, MA, USA