So last night at approximately 2.30 am, I had somewhat of an epiphany regarding my fourth year project. No idea where it came from but I lay in bed thinking I would be fine and then just had to get up and write it all down and do a few sketches. Suddenly I had been at it for a good half hour!
I’m definitely not going to complain though, if it gets me to my degree show next year long may it continue!
I’m excited to go sit in the garden today and see what my midnight ramblings can turn into!
It has now been a couple of weeks since finishing my third year at DJCAD, a year which culminated in a 7 week project; a topic chosen by each individual, explored in depth whilst creating our own deadlines in the run up to a final hand in. We had spent the five months previous to this on a series of small projects, getting us to work with different materials and techniques which we could then cherry pick and expand on as suited our independent projects. Throughout my education at DJCAD I have been pushed to try new techniques and play with materials outside my comfort zone which I feel is really pushing me not only as a jeweller but as an artist. I began my self motivated mission looking to my Dads graduate job as a Geologist and incorporating his fossils & stones into my work however having spent a few weeks playing about and pushing myself however I didn’t feel like I was developing a deep context with it so began looking through my old sketchbooks to see if i could identify and running themes or similarities in my work.
I very quickly identified a sense of family and emotional connection through my work. I have always been interested in the relationship we have with jewellery and how that develops and changes over time as pieces pass from person to person. I also looked to our identity and began focussing in on what makes our aesthetic identity alone. Taking certain obvious aspects away such as the face left interesting materials and shapes to work with. Continuously in my work there has been a sense of history and playfulness with materials, both old and new. I wanted to bring these elements to my current work, whether that be in material or techniques. Having enjoyed working with human hair in my second year I decided to return to that and push myself even further. At the start of my third year I had been reluctant to use it again as I didn’t want to be pigeon holed, however taking a break from it, I saw that there was a huge amount of intrigue within the work I had originally created and felt I was ready to take it to another level. I did a series of sketches of different kinds of hair, using them as peoples sole identity; it was incredible how easily people could pick out someone, simply by their hair. I also began playing about with longer sections of hair, glueing them together, weaving and braiding them and moulding them into unusual shapes..
I have always wanted to incorporate an emotional context into my work and have continuously been interested in our relationships to jewellery. As hair is such an evocative material the hope is that I will be able to expand on this more going into fourth year.
For the past few weeks we have been working on our ‘Self Motivated Mission’: a project that allows us to work independently to focus on something which we have the potential to take into our degree show year. As usual, I spent a good few weeks feeling lost. (I did this in my Advanced Higher class: 4 weeks sitting in my studio playing with a tennis ball). I explored a few different options, collecting fossils, raw gemstones and crystals from my Dad who used to be a Geologist. Most of these had been collected during his time in India and all had great storied connected to them, however I really struggled to find a meaning within them. I pursued it for a couple of weeks but felt like I was simply treading water. Back to the drawing board!
Throughout this time I kept looking back at my work from second year, which had been based on my Identity. I had looked through my family history and been inspired by mourning jewellery passed down through the years and now belonging to my granny. From this I created a series of brooches influenced by Victorian mourning jewellery and the developing use of hair in contemporary jewellery. Three rather unusual pieces were created, two of which used hair in unexpected ways. I really liked the fact that people were not immediately aware that the pieces incorporated hair and was intrigued by their reactions when they found out.
I have always been interested in people (I did originally study Psychology) and I’m interested in creating pieces which connect to individuals. I think it’s important to create something which evokes an emotional response in the wearer, whether or not it is obvious to others. I plan on focusing on different stages of life and what we give at these points; birth; graduation; engagement; weddings and death.
I am gathering individual responses to jewellery and the emotions it evokes. I want to find out peoples relationships to pieces they own and what, if any, connections or memories they hold. If you have time please email me with a response at katiewightman@hotmail.co.uk. Any help would be much appreciated.
I was so excited to check my emails the other day and find that the designer my tutors has paired me up with had gotten back to me. Reading over her answers I couldn’t help but think I would have chosen a different route to go in my work had I had her answers earlier. Some info about her pieces was really interesting, her techniques and influences outside Victorian hair jewellery.
The first question I was really intrigues to find out about was how she had come about ‘drawing’ with hair.
And so with this change in seasons come a new year at uni. I have just gone into my third year at DJCAD studying jewellery & metal design. It has been a really busy summer and I have been incredibly lucky in the opportunities that have come my way. During the end of the summer I was shortlisted for the KCA Award for Creativity for my Hair-loom collection at University and later in the summer found out I am in the final 5 and now part of an exhibition in October. I was also bowled over when I found out that my work had been chosen to be part of an exhibition in London during Jewellery Week at Darkrooms on Lambs Conduit Street. There were 15 other students taking part in the exhibition, the rest of whom were graduating that year so I felt incredibly honoured to be chosen and it was a great experience meeting so many people in the industry. I was also awarded a bursary for my grades at uni which meant I was able to buy a host of tools in preparation for a new term. A very exciting and incredibly honouring summer!
Our first project is based around artist research. Each student was assigned a designer and I was lucky enough to get Melanie Bilenker, an American art jeweller. Her work is inspired by victorian hair jewellery and focused on sketches she creates whilst looking at everyday life. She works in the unusual medium of human hair. Bilenker uses this to ‘draw’ in resin, creating beautiful delicate images portraying everyday life such as bathing. brushing teeth and eating chocolate. I can really relate to her want to use hair ‘as a proof of existence’. I think everyone would admit it is a scary thought that once you die you could be forgotten about. Using hair is like leaving a memento of yourself behind.
For this project I am looking at alternative materials but interested in the idea of everyday, somewhat mundane tasks and turning them into something beautiful, focusing on the hidden detail.
My next step is to find out more information from the artist herself to give me a better grounding on what I am working with. I have emailed her with a few questions about her inspiration and creation of such delicate pieces. Fingers crossed she will get back to me soon and I can get cracking in the workshop!
So it has been a while since I posted on this. It has been a crazily busy few weeks since I finished uni. Alongside working in a school with some rather tricky kids, I have been recovering from a somewhat whirlwind weekend! A couple on months ago I applied for Darkroom, a boutique which specialises in an eclectic mix of one-off, unusual, and hard-to-find accessories. Alongside this it has an exhibition space at the window. The competition was entitled ‘Rough Cuts’ and was a chance for students all over the UK to have their work exhibited as part of London Jewellery Week. Having just received an A for my final project of second year (Hair-loom) I decided I had nothing to loose and applied, forgetting about it once it had been sent off as I never thought I had a chance. A few weeks later however I got an email saying I had been shortlisted however 4 days after that I got contacted by my Uni to say that my work had been damaged in a flood. Managing to get up to Dundee 4 days later I began the clean up on my work. The hair had matted and burnt and the resin discoloured under the heat of the burst hot water pipe. With a lot of work and a few tears I did manage to get them back up to a presentable standard.Now I really wasn’t expecting to get any further than this. Sending my work off with two other fourth year jewellers I thought I hadn’t a chance, particularly given the damage to my work however the following week I got an email to say my work had been chosen to be part of the exhibition. Not i’ll be honest, I was running on a treadmill checking my emails when this came through; I had a bit of a comedy fall and almost landed face down with all the shock!
A chaotic few days later and I was on a train down to London to see my work presented.
The feeling of actually seeing my work in a shop window was incredible. When we arrived at Darkroom it was packed, both inside and out the shop. Rather nervously I went to see how my work looked post flood (not great but passable). Speaking to the owner of the boutique, the woman who set up the exhibition, I felt much better about my work, she had been telling people about the flood so everyone seemed to know my work wasn’t quite as it should have been.
I met so many incredible people at the opening with amazing ideas. One woman offered to pull her waist length hair out for me, strand by strand, if I wanted to work on it! She has collected her hair in a bag and when there was enough had felted it into a hat. The ideas people gave me on how to use hair and incorporating new materials was endless. I switched name and emails with people and some asked me to stay in touch as they were interested in my work and the ideas behind it; more than I could ever have expected!
The following day I was due to be getting the train back to Edinburgh (whirlwind trip!) however I delayed my return so I could go to Jewel East and meet Michelle Oh and Ayako Kanari and see their beautiful work. Although small the exhibition/sale was really interesting. Lost of very different jewellery styles and materials displayed. I must admit (as you are probably aware) I am a bit of a magpie and ended up buying a ring from Ayako. It was lovely meeting them and great hearing what they have done since graduating and how they have set themselves up.
A totally lightning speed trip but I met so many interesting people and learned so much, both about graduating, life after it, ideas for my jewellery and using hair and getting contacts with other jewellery, costume, clothing designers and artists.
During the Victorian period, women kept a ‘hair receiver’ on their Vanity tables. These were made either from brass or hand painted ceramics. After brushing their hair, the woman would remove the hair from her brush and place it through a small opening in the top of the receiver for storage. These storages devices were decorated in such a way that it was not immediately visible as to what they were. Once enough hair had accumulated, it would be used to construct rats (an old fashion ‘bump-it’ to add volume to your hair) or could be woven and pleated to be put into lockets, watch chains, bracelets and other items of jewellery. Hair would be left visible in these lockets, either behind a glass compartment in the back of a metal brooch, or on display in the front as the main decoration of the piece.
In the late 1800’s -early 1900’s, postcards and valentines were often sent with human hair attached. The sentimental sender would glue locks of hair onto specially made postcards and send them as a keepsake. This hair could then be kept on the postcards and displayed, or removed and incorporated into a piece of jewellery.
Victorian hair work can be split into four basic techniques, Palette work, Sepia Panelling, Hair flowers & wreaths and table work. Palette work involved laying hair flat and glueing it into wax. It was then shaped, cut out and pieced together to form pictures. most of this work was done on a very small scale and placed under glass to form a piece of jewellery. Sepia panelling was a picture painted in brown tones in which the paint was actually made out of finely chopped hair. Typically these paintings were done on glass or ivory. Because these were mourning pieces, the picture usually contained a gravestone or weeping willow tree. Hair flowers & wreaths were made by wrapping hair around a rob and using a thin wire to hold the piece together. Wired loops of hair could slip off the rod and be shaped ion different shapes and scenes; this is when ‘flowers’ would be created. In some instances entire bouquets would be made from hair, each flower being the hair from a different member of family. Table work was done using a small table which had a hole in the middle. Hair was separated into bundles varying in thickness which were secured at both ends and weighted to ensure they laid flat and straight while the weaving went on.
My aim with my jewellery is to use hair to look at how we remember the dead. I was to see if i can create an emotional connection with it again. Hair is so precious to us when it is on our head yet when removed form the person, looses its value and beauty. I want to create something hopefully using traditional techniques while incorporating newer materials such as resin and aluminium to create a piece which is both beautiful but asks social questions at the same time.
An odd turn in my Border Crossing project. Each student in my class was paired up with a student in Texas. To create my second brooch I asked my partner for their take on my topic of mourning jewellery. As far as she was aware there were not any specific designs, unlike in the UK where it was quite fashionable. She did however tell me that on Mothers Day, it is tradition, particularly in the South, for women to wear a red rose on their lapel if their mother is alive or a white one if she has passed away. It is this which has led me to focus on roses and different ways I can incorporate them into my project.
So this past month (maybe two!) has been a bit of a whirlwind. I have been thrown into my second semester of Jewellery and Metalwork at DJCAD with a project that has had us working with students in both Texas and Slovenia. This asked us to look at our own identity and find something that was important to us. I started with a photograph of my Grandpa that he sent to my Granny during his time in Egypt in the Second World War which he had written “Keep Smiling, Ross xxx” on. This was an item which I knew immediately would be my starting point as it has become very special to me since he passed away last May. It started me off looking at my family history, particularly looking into old photos and jewellery and linking up pieces with individual members. My Granny proved to be a huge wealth of knowledge, telling me stories of my family as far back as the 1800’s and working out who had worn what jewellery.
I began looking at a few pieces of mourning jewellery my Granny had and began researching how we remember the dead. One of the pieces that caught my eye was a mourning brooch which had space in the back to keep a lock of hair in. This focused my attention on mourning jewellery, specifically that of the Victorian age. The Victorians used a lot of hair in their mourning jewellery, not only in the back of lockets but they would also send it off and have it made into a piece of stand alone jewellery. This could only be worn one year after their loved one had passed away however it is a commonly made mistake that hair work jewellery was only for mourning. It was also a sentimental memorial to the one you love, a sign of friendship, given to family and a status symbol.
As I began researching the methods used to create these pieces I discovered that they are actually far more intricate than I first thought. It was used as a source of sentimentality at a time when there were no photographs. Mourning jewellery came to the forefront of the public eye through Queen Victoria. Not only did she give her children and grandchildren jewellery containing a lock of her hair, she also wore a piece of jewellery made with the hair of Prince Albert after his death.
Spurred on by this I began to research into contemporary jewellery who use hair as a main material. To begin with I struggled to find many however with the help of a friend, jeweller Anais Paulard, I managed to find a multitude of contemporary artists. Many used long sections of luxurious hair such as Nina Khazani and Polly Van Der Glas.
I want to create something which looks at hair as a beautiful material but also pushes peoples perceptions and comfort boundaries. I want people to really think about how they feel about hair: it is so precious when it is on our heads, a commodity, and yet in Western culture once it has been cut off, becomes something people screw their noses up at in disgust. I want to try and change peoples idea’s and create something both beautiful yet somewhat uncomfortable.
KATIE WIGHTMAN 