Identity - Nine New Graduates

Kath Libbert presents Identity - Nine New Gradutes

Vivid, tactile, provocative, playful, contemplative – our annual selection of the best new UK graduate talent evokescuriosity and delights the senses!

Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery, which this year celebrates twenty one years at Salts Mill, Saltaire, has selected and exhibited the work of new graduates since its inception. In numerous cases these emerging talents have gone on to gain wide acclaim for their work, and many continue to be represented by the gallery. Kath says: ‘spotting and then supporting the work of cutting edge new graduates has always been so central to the ethos of the gallery.  Forging a career straight out of college is really challenging. Now, more than ever, it is vital to exhibit and encourage these incredibly talented jewellers at this formative stage in their careers.’

This year Glasgow School of Art had an exceptional crop of talents which we are delighted to reflect in our selection. The nine chosen new graduates forging their distinct identities are:

Adrienn Pesti, Glasgow School of Art 

has crafted her collection to counteract social isolation by appealing to people across all ages and backgrounds through their senses. Silk clay in vivid pinks, greens and blues is forced through grids creating wonderfully curious surfaces in a delightful series of brooches and necklaces that just cry out be touched!

Isla Christie, Glasgow School of Art
makes use of digital tools to explore the infinite possibilities of geometric forms. Working in silver and paper, she has developed a method of ‘slicing’ her digital 3D models to create items of jewellery made from layers of cut paper. Her modular collection of primary coloured earrings and pins are not only kinetic but have interchangeable parts encouraging lots of playful interaction by the wearer.

Miki Asai, Glasgow School of Art
her contemplative collection of mosaic brooches finely crafted from fragments of eggshell, seashell, mother of pearl and lacquer show her clear Japanese aesthetic. The poetically titled Colour of Wind brooch is a particularly captivating example, ephemeral, exquisite, light as a feather and extremely wearable!

Song Wang, Birmingham School of Jewellery
in her intriguing collections Emotion Dialogue and Insecure Song Wang explores our often hidden feelings of anxiety. Dramatic protective cuffs and chokers made from heat sensitive infused acrylic change colour in reaction to our body temperature and modular rings can be changed to become earrings or brooches as we fiddle to help manage our feelings. Jewellery as an aid to greater self knowledge and acceptance!

Hayley Grafflin, Sheffield Hallam University
Hayley is inspired by often overlooked hidden beauty - peeling paint revealing every shade of orange rust imaginable, soot covered London underground pipes – these observations permeate her restrained collection of jewellery each piece a painterly composition crafted from carefully chosen wood, paper and oxidised silver with the occasional flash of orange paint!

Mara Balode, Glasgow School of Art
photographic fragments of urban environments are transposed onto tiny acrylic squares and woven into wonderous flexible structures making an eminently wearable collection of jewellery. Mara wants to depict ‘an impression of an ephemeral world vanishing in the sunlight’.

Evgeniia Balashova, Glasgow School of Art
is inspired by office spaces and the abundance of repetitive features found within them. Stationary, computer hardware, identical furniture - all appear in perfect order until human intervention turns them into organised chaos. Her gently compressed Under Pressure brooch in pastel painted 3D printed nylon and silver captures this mix of order and chaos beautifully.

Hannah Lornie, Glasgow School of Art
a microscopic observation of lichen it’s textures, colours, patterns is inspiration for a complex series of jewellery pieces cleverly crafted from a merger of precious and non-precious materials, paint, thread, silver and acetate – a material exploration of what we value and why.

Paula Treimane, Glasgow School of Art 
a supremely elegant collection of jewellery arising from her extensive exploration of natural materials wood, silver, bone, rubber and thread, highlighting their interplay and intrinsic values. She specializes in techniques such as wood carving and experimental lost wax casting, testing the limits of her materials and transforming them into unique forms and compositions. 

Dates

9 November 2017 - 28 January 2018

Venue

Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery, Salts Mill, Saltaire, Bradford BD18 3LA

www.kathlibbertjewellery.co.uk