I have recently graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone with a first class honours in silversmithing and metalwork and the DJCAD Jewellery and Metalwork Design Purchase Award 2023-2024. Following my degree show I took my graduate collection down to London to exhibit at New Designers 2024 and shortly after was delighted to be selected to showcase my work in the Diana Porter New Designers Exhibition.
Process
This collection named ‘Exposed’ showcases elegant designs that contrast and frame raw and natural compositions exposing the beauty in imperfection.
I enjoy taking the time to explore and understand the materials I am using. Through appreciating and utilising their natural qualities I feel you open up a new range of possibilities within the design process. Often I find the imperfections or faults within the material to offer a new perspective or achieve something more exciting. This is reflected in my sensitive approach to material. Through carefully heating fine silver wire to it’s melting point, just moments before collapse I take the material to its most fragile state. It is through this experimental approach to process and making that my design begin to emerge.
In addition to silversmithing, I explore the material of glass through the technique of lampwork otherwise known as glass bead making. Lampwork is a relatively new practice and material for me. It involves melting glass rods round a steel mandrel to create ornate glass beads. The fast pace at which the glass melts strips me of my ability to overly control the material and instead work intuitively.