Expanse Magnetic Brooch with Fairtrade Gold, 2022

Michelle Currie is currently Artist in Residence at The Glasgow School of Art Silversmithing and Jewellery Department after graduating with a First-Class Honours degree in 2020. Her unique practice combines traditional Silversmithing techniques with her love of Science and Astronomy. For her recent collection, Michelle visited the Physics and Astronomy Laboratories at The University of Glasgow, learning from Technicians and Scientists about their world leading research into Black Holes and Gravitational Waves. This unique collection is the result of an exploration into the unseen forces that govern and shape our world. By combining silver and precious stones with ferromagnetic materials containing iron particles, Michelle captures the exciting variety of textures and movement created when exposing iron particles to neodymium magnets. She creates her own mixtures of iron particles that are sculpted directly onto magnetic field lines using the invisible structure as a canvas to capture the explosive moments as static ominous wearable sculptures.

‘I am ever captivated and inspired by the beauty of the intrinsically interwoven nature of ‘Science and Art,’ sharing the pursuit of knowledge and an understanding of our place in the universe. Although often communicated in different ways, the fields are deeply connected by curiosity and the need to explore the unexplored, making sense of our observations and experiences.’

Michelle’s has received multiple industry awards such as a Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Award, Goldsmiths’ Centre Precious Metal Bursary Award 2020 and received a prestigious ceremonial mace commission by The University of Glasgow to be unveiled in 2021. Michelle’s graduate work has also been awarded both the Fife Contemporary New Maker Award 2020 and the Incorporation of Goldsmiths Graduate Award 2020.