About Imogen Hales
In Imogen Hales' practice, making jewellery always begins with drawing; these drawings are instinctive and gestural responses to particular places and moments in time. Imogen's graduate collection ‘Unspool’ transposes the energetic immediacy of her work on paper into jewellery, through the marriage of wirework and enamel.
Emerging from an ongoing investigation into material and process, Imogen creates painterly and densely detailed surfaces by using traditional craft skills in unconventional ways. Developed in tandem with a series of drawings and monoprints, this body of work is rooted firmly in the present, while also referencing craft heritage. Milliners’ straw braiding techniques are applied to silver and copper wire, emulating the hand-drawn line. Elements from various enamelling methods such as cloisonné, champlevé and basse-taille are mixed and matched, to create a depth of colour reminiscent of translucent layered inks.
‘Unspool’ is a series of sketches designed to be worn, made with metal and glass as the primary drawing materials, rather than pencil or ink.
Imogen Hales graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2024.
Imogen in the studio shot by Alan McAteer.