What encouraged you to move into making sculptural metal pieces as well as traditional jewellery?
I felt the need to move away from jewellery for Thresholds because I needed the theory behind the work to breathe, without technical restrictions of wearability. The body is still integral to the collection, as they come alive when held. However, they are a marked move away from conventional understanding of adornment. This felt incredibly vulnerable, but exactly what was needed.
I will continue to make jewellery, and these newer skillsets are now informing emerging collections; however, I feel that through the process of my MA I am an artist, thinker and maker foremost – and that the scale of my work can be disclosed later.
You’re currently working on increasing the scale of your silversmithing techniques – what style of work do you hope to produce going forward?
I am fixated on capturing flow. For me, this is a visual anchor that represents the transience and changeability of life. I love to contrast fluidity and flux with solid material. My knowledge base is precious metal, however, this restricts me to a scale that I increasingly want to expand.
Such scales lead me to working in differing metals, but also techniques: I am looking into carving models and having them cast at a foundry, for example. Small-scale sculptures I have crafted from metal mesh could be scaled up to the size of edifices, through panelling.
I have also always loved wood and long to try carving sculptures you can rest on or crawl through – tactile engagement is important to me regardless of scale. My challenge now is finding avenues to explore these ideas, as they require teamwork, space and funding, which I am currently seeking.
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