We are delighted to introduce new talent from Jewellery & Silversmithing, all graduates from art colleges in Scotland, 2021. The Art & Design departments from the art colleges across Scotland are always impressive, and we have selected five makers whose work stood out as ones to watch, particularly as many students may have had little access to studio practice during the last 22 months.
Artists include: Scarlett Bunce | Finlay Grant | Iris (Bingyan) Qu | Scott Smith | Iona Turner
“My practise focuses on the technique of beadwork. Each bead and its placement forms an integral part of the finished pattern. It’s a very deliberate and meticulous way of working and, as such comes to represent visually the time and labour invested. Inspired by the versatility of the technique I create two separated bodies of work: a jewellery collection and a silk scarf. Both demonstrate different beading techniques.
My jewellery collection focuses on how I’ve formed the work: each stitch I’ve made is visible through the clear glass beads like a map. The devotion and concentration that the project required is made evident for the viewer. I am drawn to work that has a balance between simplicity and complexity and I feel this comes across within my own designs, creating simple forms made up of detailed, some what mathematical techniques.
I produced the image for my silk scarf by bead weaving on a loom; the image is that of a lace collar. One of the reasons I was interested in depicting an image of lace through beading was because both processes share similar characteristics: slow and repetitive craft. I pixelate an image of lace which I then go on to bead. I am essentially taking away its delicacy by blurring it, and then reintroducing that intricacy with my own set of skills; a way of discussing craft and the artisan.”
Scarlett’s work is featured in Class of 2021 in February 2022.
Finlay Grant is a Scottish jewellery artist who has produced a collection of vibrant brooches and neckpieces using coloured resin. The source material that influences Finlay’s work is diverse and can come from all walks of life, although there are a number of recurring themes in his work that stem from his longstanding interest in architecture, geometry, and colour.
As a competitive swimmer, and more recently as a lifeguard, Finlay has spent a lot of time in and around swimming pools and decided to investigate the structure and fabric of this unique environment for his Honours year project, ‘SPLASH’. Finlay was particularly drawn to the distinctive patterns created by the tiles that line the pool and the geometric distortion that takes place when light travels through the moving water.
The process of making always starts with an extensive period of drawing, from both primary and secondary sources. Finlay’s ideas are developed from this relentless need to draw, to visualise his thought processes. This often involves moving away from the source and allowing his drawing to direct and inform new ideas and methods of making.
Finlay’s work featured in Class of 2021 in February 2022.
Iris Qu was born in China and grew up in a family where both of her parents are landscape architects. Affected by her background, Iris found her interest in design from an early age. She was most attracted by the beauty of the gems and the glows of the metals thus she choose the field to study in university.
Over the learning and practicing at Edinburgh College of Art, Iris has developed a style of combining metal to non-precious materials. As her knowledge grows, she realised jewellery could also be a media for expression. She now sees it as a means of method to connect objects and communicate subjects.
Her background as a science student back in high school in China has provided her the ability to see from multiple perspectives. She appreciates traditional materials and craftsmanship, but she also benefit from technology that boost design and making. Her latest works involve structures that can function only being made precisely. Building digital models to test the size and functionality saves her time and energy in making unnecessary failures, so that she could use this time to experiment with more ideas.
Iris has also experimented with various materials in undergraduate study. With kinetic or interchangeable structures, she intentionally creates more interaction between the wearer and the piece. She believes engaging with the materials is an important way to understand a piece of jewellery.
Iris’ work is featured in Class of 2021 in February 2022.
Scott Smith is an award-winning silversmith and contemporary maker whose works explore the importance of meditative craft through the processes of carving, raising and casting. Scott uses materials such as precious metals and reclaimed wood alongside a variety of repetitive and meditative practises, traditionally favoured by ancient Scottish craftspeople, to interrogate early Pictish carvings, contemplating mark making and the authenticity of replicas.
Smith often produces pieces of handheld silverware that sits comfortably on both the dining table and in the wild Scottish landscapes that shaped their designs. Responsiveness to environment and reflective practises have emerged as qualities in Scott’s recent works; a passion for meditative practises that allows for an expansive role for materials, instinctive making and spontaneous responses.
Scott’s work is featured in Class of 2021 in February 2022.
Iona Turner’s degree collection ‘The Seaweed Gatherer’ is an ongoing jewellery collection materialised from gathered seaweed. The process is that of careful attention to, and immersion in, seaweeds’ wild ecology – following the cycles of the moon and rhythms of the tide, seaweeds shapeshift from their submerged to storm-cast state.
The collection holds holistic aspirations, conscious of betraying the meditative qualities of gathering. Any necessary accompanying materials, the combined conduit through which the body bonds with the seaweed, are selected with the intention of reducing synthetic consumption while enhancing conceptual significance.
“Submerged Knotted Wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum) stands tall; holdfasts cling tightly to intertidal rock; stem-like fronds perform an elegant dance of protection and nutrition for many creatures of the sea. Human time in seaweed’s submarine world is limited by breath, though the experience endures as creative inspiration. After the storm and tides recede Knotted Wrack may come away from the rock to be found ashore – storm-cast. Here, without live ecology to inhibit, is where seaweed is gathered, having travelled near and far in varying stages of decay; such variations in detail become the work’s colour pallet and organic pattern. Clusters of abundance mimic nature’s sub-marine growth patterns created, in honour of seaweed’s ecological value, through fine detail processes as yet reserved for economically valuable precious metals.”
Iona’s work is featured in Class of 2021 in February 2022.
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