DESIGN NAME: Uncontrolled nature
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Contempoary jewellery
INSPIRATION: I'm inspired by my surrounding natural environment and use natural materials to create the unique forms and structures featured in my pieces. I believe that nature doesn't have to be taken in such a literal manner as using the forms of natural materials within a piece. Instead I aim to create a new type of nature inspired jewellery that uses natural materials to form the physical shape of a piece.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Inspired by the unique complexity and irregularity of our natural environment, these exploratory pieces express natures uncontrollability, featuring forms created using a specialized technique that allows the shapes to form naturally. This process means that each piece formed is truly unique, as in nature. These pieces also explore contrast by incorporating controlled geometric shapes with the natural formations.
These pieces have also been designed with the wearer in mind, with the collar having a hinged opening mechanism and contoured form that makes it easy and comfortable to wear.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: My pieces can easily and comfortably be worn as statement pieces of jewellery.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The creation of these pieces started with my university graduation project in early 2015.
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: I exploit a variety of processes in my work including free form casting. This process allows me to create forms from molten metal that appear organic as the process means the metal is free to flow and form unique shapes. This type of casting is rarely used within commercial pieces as it is highly experimental and cant be used to produce consistent results. However, I have found these qualities to be a great benefit to my designing process as they ensure that each piece is unique.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Both the collar and ring are made using sterling silver with a deep purple enamel being used to enhance and showcase the complexity of the natural forms.
TAGS: natural, silver, unique, bespoke, organic, geometric, contrast, gemstones, enamel, jewellery, collar
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Initially I began this project by researching the various forms of natural inspired jewellery currently available. From this research I found there to 4 distinct groups commonly seen: jewellery inspired by the form of a natural object; jewellery that incorporates natural materials in the design; jewellery that looks at nature in a more abstracted with the use of manmade process that produce uncontrollable results. By analysing these genres and through experimentation, I concluded that for the purposes of my collection; using manufacture process that produce random, natural looking results was by far the least exploited style and also the most interesting.
CHALLENGE: The most challenging aspect of manufacturing my pieces in this uncontrolled manufacture process is that I never know exactly what a piece will look like until it has been cast. This also means that each piece I create is completely unique and therefore bespoke to each customer purchasing a piece.
ADDED DATE: 2016-02-25 15:43:08
TEAM MEMBERS (1) : Elizabeth crawford
IMAGE CREDITS: Image#1 Silver and enamel hinged geometric collar , 2015
Image#2 Silver and enamel hinged geometric collar , 2015
Image#3 Silver and enamel hinged geometric collar side view, 2015
Image#4 silver and enamel matching statement ring, 2015
Image#5 Silver and enamel hinged geometric collar close-up , 2015
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