Ornamental Beauty, Solo Exhibition, The Scottish Gallery Edinburgh

A solo exhibition held at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, Ornamental Beauty, represents a recent period of research producing outputs in jewellery.

Ornamental Beauty (artist's Statement)

I continue to explore the human relationship to ornament in my work how we decorate ourselves and our surroundings with ornamental motifs that repeat themselves through history and across cultures.

This recent body of work is firmly rooted in Venice. Through my photographs and drawings, I have reflected on my sense of the place and responded through the materials and forms of my practice. Based on the history of the architecture and its mix of classical influences - compositions of ornamental details and architectural forms made in metal are mixed with the colours and textures of the city’s walls in enamel for example.

In The Stones of Venice, John Ruskin examined Venice's architecture and argued for the importance of architecture in the world and the relationship between thought and craft. The rich palette of architecture is endlessly inspiring.

“There is material enough in a single flower for the ornament of a score of cathedrals.” John Ruskin in The Stones of Venice

The works included here are two pieces selected from the work shown and are a representation of the overall directions taken in the new work:

Tube brooch: oxidised silver, 18ct gold, mother of pearl quatrefoils (60x65mm)
Exploring etching and roll-printing finely detailed patterns onto a very thin silver sheet. The silver is then formed into uneven/loose tube forms, retaining the detail of the patterns and referencing architectural detailing.

Long Quatrefoil Brooch with mother of pearl bar rivets: oxidised silver, 18ct gold, mother of pearl (55x65mm)
Exploring quatrefoil silhouettes from architecture through photographs taken at source, using collage and drawing to develop work that references the form as well as rules of pattern in the architecture realised in the grid formation. Further reference to the ornamental scrollwork is visible on the surface of the piece.