Meet the Makers: Jewellers Confirmed!

The following jewellers will be available to talk about their work at the 'Meet the Makers' event on the 1st July, including curators Fliss Quick, Tamsin Leighton-Boyce and Natalie Smith.

Fiona Hermse
Tamsin Leighton-Boyce
Natalie Smith
Fliss Quick
Heidi Hinder
Sally Collins
Sian Haigh-Brown
Toni Mayner
Shadi Vossough
Katherine Richmond
Jo Pond
Mikaela Lyons
Emily Bullock

The event will take place from 12-4pm at the O3 Gallery. We look forward to seeing you.

The Oxford Times: Review

'Donning Oxford' has been reviewed in The Oxford Times,  on the 6th June by Anne James. To read the review follow the link Donning Oxford: O3 Gallery.

Meet the Makers- 1st July 2012

Donning Oxford: Is Now Offically Open!!!

After four long days and lots of hard work, we are pleased to announce that 'Donning Oxford' is now open at the O3 Gallery.The show is on until 1st July 2012.

The images below give a brief history of the installation process and the final show.

 

 

 

 

  

 

Thank you to all of the contributing artist and all the staff at the O3 Gallery especially Helen Statham, Gallery Manager.

If you are interested in learning more about the exhibition then there will be a 'Meet the Makers' event on Sunday 1st July, where many of the jewellers will be present to discuss their work that is on show.

Farrah Al-Dujaili: It all seemed quite natural

Farrah Al-Dujaili

Brooch 'It all seemed quite natural' 2012

Copper, enamel paint, acrylic paint, watercolour

8.5x 8.5x 6.5cm

This is the last in the series of showcased images by our selected 'Donning Oxford' artists. Next week we will be at the O3 Gallery installing the show!!

Katherine Richmond

Katherine Richmond

Brooch, 2012

Li-Chu Wu: Plants

Li-Chu Wu

Brooch 'Plants' 2011

Paper, copper, wax, silver plated

5x 6x 3cm

Rachael Colley

Rachael Colley

Ring 'Untitled' 2012

Gold plated silver, jelly, cocktail stick

2.8x 3.7x 2.4cm

Mikaela Lyons: Organic 3

Mikaela Lyons

Neckpiece 'Organic 3' 2012

Curtain trim, black fresh water pearls, enameled copper, wax

8x 5.5cm

Tamsin Leighton-Boyce: Innercity

Tamsin Leighton-Boyce

Brooch 'Innercity' 2012

Recycled plastic/ polypropylene packaging, steel

6x 10cm

Fliss Quick: Exhibit A

Fliss Quick

Brooch 'Exhibit A' 2012

Mixed media 

Natalie Smith: We are one!

Natalie Smith

Brooch 'We are one!' 2012

Clay, paint, textile, steel

21.5x 13.5x 6cm 

Jo Pond: Necessary punctuation?

Jo Pond

Brooch 'Necessary punctuation?' 2012

Repurposed steel tin, steel

7x 4x 2.5cm

Fiona Hermse: Brooch 1

Fiona Hermse

Brooch 'Brooch 1' 2012

Oxidised precise white metal, 9ct gold, textile, dark diamond chip.

Shadi Vossough: Cobblers

Shadi Vossough

Brooch 'Cobblers' 2012

Polyester resin, steel

10.7x 6.8x 1.8 cm

Emily Bullock: Hilary

Emily Bullock

Brooch/ Neckpiece 'Hilary' 2011

Velvet bow tie, painted metal chain

13x 23cm

Karen Bartlett: Dreaming Spires

Karen Bartlett

Brooch 'Dreaming Spires' 2012

Gilding metal, copper, silver, stainless steel, CZ, powder coating (blue), rubber bands

13x 6x 5.5cm 

Kathryn Partington: Fragments Above

Kathryn Partington

Brooch 'Fragments Above' 2012

Copper, wood verneer  

8x 8cm

Lucy Elsie Harvey: Wrapped, Encased, Pierced

Lucy Elsie Harvey

Brooch 'Wrapped, Encased, Pierced' 2012

6x 1.5cm each

Sterling silver, steel, chamois leather, coral, cotton

Toni Mayner

Toni Mayner

Necklace 'Untitled' 2011

7x 4.5x 0.8cm (linen thread and clasp approx 40cm long)

 

Sian Haigh-Brown: 'At the Gates'

Sian Haigh-Brown

Brooch 'At the Gates' 2012

Used tea bag, cotton, craqueleur, silver

12x 6cm

Yi Lu: Lost in the Wind

Yi Lu

Ring: 'Lost in the Wind' 2011

3.5x 4.5cm

Oxidised silver, CZ

Sally Collins: Electric Bloom

Sally Collins

 Necklace: 'Electric Bloom' 2011-12

7x 11x 3cm (Chain 66cm in length)

Sterling silver, cubic zirconia, swarovski crystals, cotton, paint

Heidi Hinder: Medals for a Museologist

 Heidi Hinder

'Medals for a Museologist'

Heidi Hinder

Detail from 'Medals for a Museologist'

Here is the first in a series of blog posts showcasing some of the work that is going to be on show in the forthcoming 'Donning Oxford' exhibition at the O3 Gallery, Oxford.

This post focuses on the beautiful work of Heidi Hinder.

The Exhibition!!

Here is the official flyer for the exhibition 'Donning Oxford'. The image on the poster is of a new piece of work created specifically for the show by Farrah Al-Dujaili. We will be showcasing more new work by our selected jewellers in the lead up to this very special exhibition, so be sure not to miss them!!

Emily Bullock: Oxford Inspiration

'I instantly knew how I was going to approach my new collection for Donning Oxford. Recent Master’s work has helped to provide me with a studio methodology that I could apply to future projects…

The first stage of the process was to visit Oxford and take some inspirational photographs, being sensitive to particular forms, colours and compositions that caught my eye. 

 High Street, Oxford, photograph by Emily Bullock

The second stage was to collate these photographs into a book from which I could begin sketching initial shapes, forms and patterns; these provided the base templates of my pieces. The colour palette was also derived from my images from Oxford; the clashing terracotta’s and pastels that enveloped the houses evoked an immediate source of stimulus. I have an innate compulsion to place colours together that ordinarily would clash or be seen to be garish.

Buliding detail, photograph Emily Bullock

Building detail, photograph Emily Bullock

The third stage was material research. I began looking into products and materials which are traditionally linked with Oxford. There was one item I stumbled across which immediately intrigued me, ‘the Oxford shoe’. As I love to wear brogues in my day to day life I was amused by the idea of deconstructing an oxford shoe and thus using it in my pieces. From finding out that ‘the Oxford shoe’ was originally associated with Oxford University, I began looking into the academic dress of this established educational institution. The ‘matriculation ceremony’, a formal process of entering the University, sees every undergraduate wearing a cap and gown, a bow tie (for men) and a black ribbon (for women). I also discovered that during the examination period, students wear three colours of carnations: white for the beginning of exams, pink for midway and red for the last day. All of these aspects of research have helped to motivate each of my designs.

I am currently producing a series of brooches which encapsulate all of the above. More traditional techniques such as hand piercing and soldering are being combined with more modern processes such as 2D design, laser marking, PUC welding and spray painting'.   

Rachael Colley: Segregation

'Segregation: My series of alternative tourism tools have been created as a reaction against all the classic British tourist destinations favored by the average sightseer'.

 Cutteslowe Wall

 Cutteslowe wall be taken down in 1959

'This wall was one of two that were constructed in order to cut off the council housing (low-income housing project) from its more affluent neighbours in Cutteslowe, Oxford. The wall was erected in 1934 by a private developer and subsequently demolished in 1959 following a public protest'.

 

For further information please see: BBC Oxford, Pennine Productions: The Cutteslowe Walls, The Oxford Mail, Oxford Cockaigne.

Jo Pond: The Oxford Comma

Image from 'A Man of Culture: Lexicology II- The Oxford Comma'.

'For me, Oxford has always been the home of the Pitt Rivers Museum… This fantastic collection leaves me brimming with images of Museum exhibits, labelled artefacts and drawers full of wonders to inspire my work… 

However, Oxford also holds the intellect of a prestigious University and it is this that seems to be focusing my thought. I dabble in the potential for wearable items to become vehicles for communication and the use of the written word is often a favoured element within my pieces.

A punctuation mark received much press recently. An anonymous Twitter user announced that a style guide on a University of Oxford website recommended against using the Oxford comma. The public defence in favour of this tiny element of punctuation was utterly charming and quintessentially British… incentive to create!'

Fliss Quick: The Truth behind Oxford?

On my first research visit to Oxford I set out with the intention of unearthing what it was that made Oxford, Oxford. I wanted to try to capture the essence of this city; I was looking to make sense of it. I observed and recorded in an effort to uncover clues which would help me decipher its truth.

It became clear as I explored this city that it is one of mystery: Buildings and places where entrance is restricted yet which display tantalising views and hint at a secret world beyond.

Walking its streets, I observed how the city imparts compelling extracts of its narratives; snippets of conversation overheard or fleeting moments observed; stories of which we can only guess the beginnings or endings. In this exploration of the city I found myself drawn to the detritus and marks left behind, whose traces belied the stories played out on the city's stage.

I find myself approaching this enquiry as a detective would a mystery. I am trying to piece together the evidence in an attempt to reconstruct and retell this city's stories.

Lucy Elsie Harvey: Magic in Modern Oxford

Sketchbook studies of the pieces of the Edward Lovett Collection at Pitt Rivers Museum, currently on exhibition at 'Charmed Life', Wellcome Collection.

My visits to Oxford centre round the fantastic Pitt Rivers Museum whose eccentric collection has inspired my practice for many years. The museum offers many facets for artist response and previously I have focused on their collection of witchcraft artefacts and ceremonial grooming devices. My current enquiry is concerned with the transformation of everyday artefacts into power objects such as lucky charms and amulets. I have been following the trail of English folklorist Edward Lovett whose collection in part makes up the museum’s Amulets and Charms collection. Lovett also published a book titled “Magic in Modern London” in 1925 and was a sceptic with an eclectic collection in true Victorian tradition. You can read about Pitt River’s Amulet and Charm collection here, with more background on the collection over on Wellcome Collection website where pieces are being exhibited as part of their Charmed Life exhibition.

I am interested the relationship between the seemingly mundane materials used in these objects and their acquired symbolism; glass beads, coral, acorns, stones and animal parts feature alongside a series of techniques to elevate them beyond the mundane and incite their power: wrapping, encasing, piercing. Beyond this transformation the charm’s power is meant to be contagious and transferable to the wearer through adornment. Using these processes I hope to make amulets for modern Oxford.