Green at Artisan

For the “Green” exhibition at artisan the briefing allowed for much personal interpretation as it could mean environmental awareness, recycling, the colour green, etc.

My use of vinyl records is re/Upcycling and although I have yet to find the correct wording to describe it, I do still consider the use of past references as some sort imagery recycling or aesthetic recycling, where the actual objects referenced are no longer used for their original purpose, but can be re-approached for their “look”.

I had not made a pair of earrings in quite a while and so decided to do so, which ended up suiting my references well as I looked at 19^th century frames and key holes: both functional objects, but in their time no less deserving of exquisite detail.

http://www.gardnersantiques.com/images/G7_shipment/Mirror_LXVI_gold_leaf+gold_guilt_oval_mirror_c1870_scan0070.JPG

 

http://www.faccents.com/gallery/item845b.JPG

Anglogold: Characters

I like to think there was a time when using leather meant quality and resilience and craftsmanship and not murderous animal abuse. But for the sake of the masses, the belt used if made is to be an upcycled belt.

For the “Upcycler” the main structure of the neckpiece is a vinyl record, cut and shaped under heat, onto which gold detail is riveted making the gold the focal point. Because this character was said to reuse old jewellery in new jewellery we design the gold detail to look like three types of gold work- Etched or engraved; pierced; and detailed wirework.

Although there were quite specific outlines for the characters we found that both pieces could in fact apply to Upcycling or Futurism because of the nature of Steampunk. This related to me and my own work in that it is sometimes difficult to determine the focus of my work because with using the past for reference in contemporary jewellery, old materials do come into the picture and one must determine which aspects of the work are primary aims or concerns and which is incidental or by-products.

Unfortunately, because of competition rules the final designs may not be made public, but hopefully I've provided an understanding to our approach to the design, and learnt a bit about how it relates to my research topic .