I’m really excited to share the story of my new Cubed Brooch, designed exclusively for Collect’s 20th Anniversary exhibition.
What is Collect?
Collect is the leading international fair for contemporary craft and design.
Presented by Crafts Council, it showcases work of artist-makers and galleries with disciplines including ceramics, glass, lacquer, textiles, paper, jewellery and metalwork.
2024 is Collect’s 20th year, taking place at Somerset House in March 2024.
Find out more about Collect here
How is Collect linked with The Goldsmiths’ Fair?
The Goldsmiths' Fair is one of many galleries exhibiting at Collect, exhibiting the work of six artists.
In addition to this, to celebrate Collect's 20th anniversary, Goldsmiths' Fair have arranged a special exhibit of 100 brooches by 100 Fair exhibitors from the last 5 years.
The parameters for these 100 brooches was simply that the piece was made in the last 20 years and the pieces did not have to include precious metals.
Read more about Goldsmiths' Fair at Collect here
How did you get involved with this year’s Collect?
Goldsmiths' Fair invited me (along with all Fair exhibitors from the past 5 years) to submit a proposal for one of those 100 brooches to be exhibited at Collect 2024. I was very excited to be selected!
I don't associate you with brooches, is this a first for you?
Not a first but I hadn’t made a brooch in a very long time! Early on in my jewellery career I loved creating brooches. They were limited editions or one of a kind pieces that took a lot of time to develop and create - I loved the process.
Over the years, due to commercial necessities and time restrictions (namely the arrival of my three children) I concentrated on other types of jewellery.
Some previous brooches: 60mm Convex Hex Brooch, Aluminium, 2011; Pattern 4 Brooch, Aluminium, 2010
What is so unique about designing a brooch?
The opportunities for creating beautiful sculptural pieces are vast, quite simply because you have a larger canvas to play with. You’re also less hindered by structural limitations that rings or earrings naturally pose. The ultimate wearable sculpture!
How did you go about designing this piece for Collect?
I wasn’t sure how to approach it at first because it’s been so long. Looking back at past work I came across my first ever brooch; a lace like pattern of shimmering cubes scattered across an undulating facade, made in oxidised silver.
Original Lace Brooch, Oxidised silver, 2006
I decided to use that as a starting point. My proposal to Goldsmiths' Fair was a piece similar in size and scale to the Lace brooch, made of cubes in my signature aesthetic, but with an updated, fresh take on that original design. To my delight, Goldsmiths' Fair said yes.
The Raw cast of the new brooch - two previous casts had failed with the gold not flowing into the middle of the brooch. After re-working the sprue, which feeds the molton metal into all the intricate nooks and crannies, this cast was perfect - but a big clean up job!
Why cubes?
Cubes have featured in my work since my days studying at the Royal College of Art twenty years ago, so it seemed only fitting to celebrate Collect’s 20th anniversary with a refreshed version of my cube centric brooch.
There are endless design possibilities with cubes. The structure of the new brooch is like a 2D drawing of a 3D cube, that is in turn formed of multiple delicate cubes: I’m toying with our perception of 3D objects with these cubes within a cube.
Tell us the idea behind your aesthetic
If you know my work you’ll know how I love to explore the possibilities of harnessing light across geometric elements and linear structures to dramatic effect. This brooch is no different.
For my Cube pieces, I position each delicate cube meticulously with each facet or corner facing the same direction, so that as the wearer moves (or the viewer moves around the brooch), light catches each group of cubes at the same time; collectively they appear to flash on and off.
To explore this idea further here, I’ve experimented with using multiple plains to see if the effect would be even more impactful. If you examine the finished piece, you’ll see that light is reflected across each of the three plains at a time, maximising the ‘flashing’ on and off effect.
Are you pleased with the result?
Very much so. I am grateful for the opportunity to revisit one of my original designs, push my design aesthetic further and rediscover my love of creating brooches. What an honour to be selected for this special exhibition, thank you Goldsmiths' Fair and thank you Collect!
