I met Alexandra Abraham a couple of years ago, and immediately fell in love with her art, and particularly her jewellery. Not only it is to my personal taste, but I love the story behind it. When Alexandra invited me to her studio, I saw the incredible variety of materials, mostly antique, all object trouvé (or donated to her, or inherited), that she uses, and got lost listening to the tales behind the old coins, the XVI century clay pipes, and the pieces I am most drawn to, the blue and white china fragments.
In Alexandra’s words: “I believe that almost every material or object can be beautiful; it is simply a matter of how they are perceived. I’m inspired by the origins of my materials and excited by the physical process of turning the lost and the forgotten into something exquisite, glamorous and even wearable. The sense of history and knowledge that people have handled and used my materials many years ago is extremely important to me, and I like to imagine that something of their spirit becomes invested in my work. This is what I love best about upcycling, knowing that most of the pieces I use have had a previous life, that many people have touched them and loved them, and that possibly, hopefully, something of their spirit endures in my work.
Giovanni Scafuro was born in Naples and while still very young he began to work with artisans like potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, from whom he learned the applied art of manual trades. Today, he works with objects of daily use, lamps, chairs, tables, and jewels. The recycle, the reuse are a constant of Giovanni’s continuous experimentation process. Objects and materials are for Giovanni an inexhaustible source of inspiration and interpretation.
Amanda Caines - A self taught mixed media jeweller who combines materials outside the conventional and expected forms. Each piece evokes a sense of place, time or environment. Brought up on the Sussex coast, she always collected materials, wood, ceramic, sea glass and a variety of found objects. Living now in London, she works and collects in the same way along the banks of the Thames.
Boodi Blu – “I find beauty and a sense of mystery in discarded objects and materials. Boodi Blu emerged a few years ago whilst walking my dog when I noticed a couple of pieces of beautiful blue and white broken china in the muddy ground. I soon realised that the whole area was covered in them, buried in the earth. I had always planned to make an elaborate mosaic table or piece of furniture for my home but after a year of collecting I had the idea to create jewellery.”
Gesine Hackenberg – “A basic theme in my work is placing ordinary objects of use in the perspective of jewellery. Objects of daily use often become intimately important and indispensable to people. What one keeps and owns, often contains an emotional value next to its practical function or worth. Wearing jewellery on the body is the most intimate and direct form of showing this specific relationship to an object. My pieces are based on craft techniques and various materials, which are telling their own stories about preciousness and adornment, like ceramic tableware, (precious) metal, Japanese Urushi lacquer and glassware.”
StayGoldMaryRose is a collection of work by Abigail MaryRose Clark. Abigail has been making her ‘Repurposed Vintage Teacup Bracelets’ since 2004, for retailers such as Anthropologie.
Lindsay Pemberton – Rekindle is range of creatively upcycled jewellery and household objects made from vintage teacups and saucers. Liberating all the dust collecting china from your grandma’s cabinet and adorning your arms and wrists. The range includes the popular Tea Bangles, Heart Pendants, brooches with the new addition of the High Tea Stands. “My products are designed to challenge our thoughts of our everyday objects and rituals. By reinventing traditional rituals and domestic objects they take on a new reading in each of our lives.”
