Contemporary Jewellery direct from the leading contemporary jewellery designers

About Alison

The aesthetic of my jewellery was initially informed by my photographs and abstract drawings of Edinburgh junk shops. The ideas within these chaotic collections have fuelled me ever since. Contrasting materials and textures sit together in tranquil chaos. Brass door knobs lie among worn hammers and plastic buttons. I find the jumble exhilarating but I am equally fascinated by the individual objects. I love to imagine the stories connected to each discarded artefact. The mysterious narratives of peoples’ pasts are suggested by the dents and scratches on each piece. The junk shop becomes a museum of memories. 

Jewellery has traditionally been used to keep the memory of a loved one close to the heart. A young Victorian lady keeps a lock of her fiancé’s hair in a gold locket in his absence. As time passes the keepsake is passed down from mother to daughter and so on through the generations building layer upon layer of significance. Through my use of traditional shapes such as the cameo I reference jewellery’s significance and its intrinsic connection to memories.

Through using a wide range of materials, techniques and imagery I reflect the eclectic nature of my subject matter in a quirky way. By finely soldering silver beaded wire into clusters I reference the intense decoration found in Victorian jewellery. My silver clusters are saturated with tiny curios of different textures and colours like in a junk shop. To create this variety I combine techniques such as individual wax casting, sheet silver piercing, reticulation, stone setting and bead stringing. These techniques allow me to combine silver and gold with semi precious stones and found objects to create thought provoking pieces.