Tell us a bit about you, your background. Who is behind SireneChains, when and how did it all start?

I’m in my early thirties and I was born to an immigrant filipino mother and a native finnish father. My mother was a gifted wedding gown designer and worked a lot when I was a child. I remember spending many hours and nights in my mothers studio. I remember I was playing with toys in the big fitting area, when my mothers customers were in the middle of fitting and I was intrigued with the forms and fabrics of the pieces my mother made. I think I got my very natural feeling “eye” for the human form and silhouettes because of that. I never thought I would end up as a designer, since I saw my mother working night and day. Then the nineties economic depression came and took my mothers business with it. I grew up in a small city in Finland. I have always had a strong sense of alienation from others which made me turn into creative methods to sort out my inner world; I drew a lot and music was my safe haven. But I never fully invested myself in creative works until now. I got my degree in social studies, since I felt obliged to get myself ”a real job” and worked in different areas of social work for around 5 years. All that time I had a strong yearning for creative work, I wanted to retreat from the world to my own cocoon and produce something that is meaningful for me. I dismissed those thoughts until I was forced to stop in my life when I got my beautiful son. My dear son didn’t sleep much when he was a baby, so I watched a lot of internet videos during the sleepless nights. I stumbled into K-pop (which is funny since I usually listen to dark metal music) music videos and was in awe of the concept styling the artists had; all the clothes but especially the jewelry. Since I didn´t sleep much at that time, I don´t remember specifically the moment it started, but I did some jewelry pieces to my performing artists friends and from there it started slowly. Exactly one year ago (2021) I got my own studio and started designing jewelry seriously. The designing process took me vigorously with it, just like when I was a kid and retreated to my own world when drawing or listening to music. I could translate my innermost thoughts into physical pieces.

What is the story behind the name SireneChains?

The name actually derives from the anime Devilman Crybaby. There is an antagonist character named Sirene who is described to be one of the most beautiful demons to the point of her being mistaken for an angel. Like the sirens in Greek mythology, she is a hybrid between a human and a bird. In prehistory Sirene was, in her belief, in a relationship with the demon Amon and waited for him for centuries to reappear in the human realm. Amon reappears in the form of Devilman, which wasn ‘t a happy ending for Sirene. Sirene was a highly sexual characted, a demon who felt feelings. Sirenes story and the referation for the mythological sirens just felt perfect for my designs. My pieces have a erotic suggestion in them, but they are elegant in the same time. Just like Sirene, one can say, my designs look angelic but have a sinful essence in them in a metaphorical sense.