Fragments
NINE NEW GRADUATES FIND THEIR PLACE
14th Nov - 26th Jan 2014
Invitation to the Exhibition
FRAGMENTS
Nine New Graduates Find Their Place
Yorkshire Tea Stains, Scottish lobster creels, Mediterranean vintage kitchen utensils . . . fragments that form the basis for distinctive collections by Nine New Jewellery Graduates each starting out on a creative journey to find their place in the world of contemporary jewellery.
These nine new talents have been carefully selected from Universities across the UK to take part in Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery’s prestigious Annual New Graduate Exhibition. “It’s very exciting each year to discover these new talents and to be able to assist them with the journey from academia into the commercial art jewellery world. This year sees a particularly talented cohort, five of them are already off to a flying start having been awarded1st Class degrees, and I am very much looking forward to introducing their work to our eager collectors!” says Kath Libbert, gallery owner and curator of the exhibition.
‘Fragments from a Journey’ is the title of the enigmatic collection by Annelisse Pfeifer, Birmingham School of Jewellery. For Annelisse jewellery is a form of dialogue, a medium to connect with others. Subliminally nostalgic, her pieces are a collage of all the places she has explored on her foreign journeys. Metal is the leading material; with it she creates conspicuous sculptural structures meticulously combined with coloured plaster and 'found objects', including old kitchen utensils and distinctive packaging gleaned from the places she visits. Her large scale neckpieces and brooches are a journey on their own - to be traversed anew by each viewer’s eyes.
Also a graduate from Birmingham School of Jewellery, Alice Clarke’s home in the farming valley of Nidderdale set in the heart of North Yorkshire is the inspiration for her collection “Sunday Best” which captures the essence of Yorkshire. Alice’s collection of highly original yet eminently wearable rings, neckpieces and buttonhole fastenings are entirely created from Yorkshire tea stained plaster, Yorkshire sheep wool, Whitby Jet, found wooden dolly pegs, rope, cotton thread, silver and china teacup parts, all the ingredients for a traditional Sunday on the farm!
Heritage and homeland also inspire Kelly Munro, Edinburgh School of Art, who was born in a small town on the far north coast of Scotland, well known for its historical fishing industry. Her collection of necklaces, brooches and rings combine intricate saw pierced silver net like structures, the ancient craft of pyrography (burning designs into wood) and painting. Her collection subtly echoes the intricately knotted nets of the lobster creels and weathered driftwood, capturing the atmosphere of the many, sadly now abandoned, fishing ports along that coastline.
Ciara Bowles, Edinburgh School of Art’s, funky, bold, vibrant, psychedelic, tactile, fun to wear jewellery is inspired by microscopic images of plants and flowers. Emma Gregory, Glasgow School of Art, explores the shapes and forms found in the isometric lattice structure of gold and other precious materials using this inspiration to create exquisite, supremely elegant lightweight, three-dimensional necklaces, brooches and even bracelets out of very fine stainless steel wire which she laser-welds creating pieces that are precise, delicate, yet strong.
A journey to explore new materials and innovative uses for traditional materials is what propels work by the final four new graduates taking part in Fragments. Elizabeth Jane Campbell, Edinburgh School of Art, discovered the material of her choice right under her nose: the heat resistant ceramic honeycomb block that she and all jewellers use for soldering! She carves it to create tactile sculptural ‘jewels’, which she then enhances with colourful enamel in a similar process to traditional enamelling, but on this unexpected and innovative material. Jessica Frost, University of the Arts, Rochester, uses playful juxtaposing of neon coloured silicone, wood and metal in simple shapes of varying scale make for a surprisingly wearable collection of neckpieces and brooches. Also choosing wood as her medium is Katrine Standahl, Middlesex University, who uses traditional machinery and techniques to carve African Blackwood which she then inlays with gold creating a contemporary collection of lustrous, tactile, hardwearing bangles. Inspired by sculptural and architectural structures Tracey Falvey, Plymouth College of Art, minimises the impact of her working practise on the environment by using recycled silver to create her collection of stylish box shaped rings, each with a wonderful dash of colour inside!
