Connections is a contemporary jewellery design exhibition featuring the work of 6 graduates from the SilverHub one year course 2022/23. Please join us in celebrating their achievements.
Saturday 24th June to Tuesday 27th June | 11am – 5pm
Dundas Street Gallery
6 Dundas St
Edinburgh
EH3 6HZ
I am inspired by the world under foot, and in particular by the surfaces that make up the paths we use as we traverse our urban environment. The decay and repair of these surfaces help tell the story of how we get from A to B, and the value we place on the physical connections between places and people.
A lot of my inspiration comes from the dichotomy of those areas of decay and repair where we can see organic or seemingly random/haphazard patterns within the geometrical manmade forms that frame them. For example, the seemingly random cracks in a rectangular paving slab, or the bumps and distortions in asphalt and concrete caused by the roots of trees that have been planted along the straight lines of kerbs and slabs.
The one-year course at Silverhub has given me the opportunity to explore representing these influences through a variety of techniques and media – from shaping cobblestones and lumps of concrete out of wax, to mark making in industrial enamel, and to my explorations with texture and pattern in my sketchbook.
For this collection, I used the technique of fold-forming. To me, the repeated heating and cooling, and hammering of the metal is evocative of the forces that the street surfaces that inspire me are subjected to by nature, humans, and machinery. The imperfect geometry of the folds representing the wear and tear and the imperfect repairs we make to these surfaces.
In the future, I look forward to exploring new techniques and materials, and pushing the limits of my skills and creativity.
Instagram: @clairehunterdesigns
I am fascinated with the natural world and the beauty and complexity it exhibits. It brings me peace, excitement and wonder. I wish to be able to live in balance and harmony with it, including in my creative practice. There is much to learn from nature and biology and it has significant influence on my work.
Over the last year, I have studied fungi extensively. They are the hidden links in the natural world. Fungi and mycelium (a network of fungal threads) are all around us. They live in symbiosis with plants and trees. I’ve taken direct inspiration from fungi and mycelium, and their relationship with trees, when creating my collection.
My year with SilverHub has allowed me to explore the creative process and learn many new skills: researching and studying through different media; exploring techniques and new ways of working with metal combined with other materials; developing design ideas and prototypes; and creating pieces that satisfy my belief in simplicity and a connection with nature. The collection aims to entice a sense of wonder.
My pieces are made from eco resin, recycled silver, amadou (a material made from fungi, that I’ve produced myself) and birch wood. Amadou is central to the pieces. This magical and sustainable material has been used by humans since the end of the ice age and has now found its way into my collection.
Instagram: janeyboydjewellery
On receiving our brief on the first day of class, I immediately wanted to explore my personal connections between Edinburgh and Paris. The Sunday after receiving our brief, I found myself wandering the streets of Paris with my best friend.
Being influenced by the architecture, environment and art of the city. I am drawn to the many gardens and to the unique sculptures, sometimes showing a modern, almost industrial feel within such a tranquil space. Once back in Edinburgh I walked my favourite route up the water of Leith, taking in the contrast from nature and the waterfalls to then being in the beautiful setting of New Town. I wanted to explore the shapes of the sculptures in Paris and combine it with the Water of Leith.
Silverhub has given me so many tools for me to be able to convey this through my collection. We were lucky enough to do masterclasses in engraving, chasing & repousse, fold forming and enamelling, along with many more. Using visual research, found objects, mark making and constantly experimenting allowed me to fully indulge my creative side and took me entirely out of my comfort zone, which has been very challenging, but so rewarding. Lisa and Jess have been a constant well of knowledge and have provided unfaltering support throughout the year.
I have loved my experience of the past year, it has help my grow in many ways and I’m so very excited to explore my creative side more.
instagram@andersonkingdesign
Lifeways
For millennia, personal ornamentation has been important for demonstrating individuality and shared relationships. This collection is inspired by ancient lifeways, eroded, and hidden by time, but ever present as we go about our daily lives.
Meandering hillforts in East Lothian and pausing at points where I felt a sense of connection, the thin veil between now and then, I captured quick charcoal sketches and photographs which informed the geometry, colours and textures. Old maps, landscape and archaeological features, long hidden, also informed designs and forms.
I felt compelled to capture these relationships, colours, dichotomies, and feelings in my collection to convey a landscape deconstructed through time, whilst embodying the fluid, flowing and familiar form we see today.
Employing techniques used for thousands of years (forging, casting, enamelling), I have created objects in a contemporary environment which reflect these lifeway concepts.
This collection is inspired by my passion as an archaeologist and the ever-evolving connection between landscape, people, creating, objects, and what the objects mean.
Instagram @leannedemay
I am inspired by my environment and surroundings. Wherever I am, I am usually taking pictures or sketching something I see along the way, be that the natural world, structures or objects that I interact with in the urban environment. I enjoy taking long walks and am lucky that Edinburgh affords many different landscapes, be that the parks, the beach or the city.
On a walk through Holyrood park I was drawn to the lichen growing on trees there, particularly the colours, shapes and textures. Lichen is a symbiotic colony of fungus, algae and/or cyanobacteria. I was inspired by the cup-like shapes of the fruiting bodies of the fungi.
I began modelling these shapes in wax and polymer clay. I sand cast one of my polymer clay models as part of a sand casting masterclass at Silverhub with David Hempstead. I loved the result, you can see these circular pieces in the collection. More modelling and casting resulted in the oval and cylindrical forms in my collection.
I also took enamelling masterclasses at Silverhub with Lisa Arnott, Jessica Howarth and Sheila McDonald. These inspired me to pursue enamelling, being excited by the opportunity it offered to incorporate colour into my work. I have used that to give the feel of the lobes of the lichen.
I have made things for as long as I can remember be that in ceramics, textiles, acrylic, anything I could get my hands on. On moving to Edinburgh I found Silverhub. The one year course has really pushed me to improve my visual and material research and I have been able to see how that in turn improves my final pieces.
I am excited to be starting at Glasgow School of Art in September after accepting an offer from them for direct entry into the second year.
Instagram @sophie.izard
Photography by Shannon Tofts