LDF2023 Jewellery & Metalwork Showroom

Founded in 2018, A-D-JUST is a variation of the English word adjust, which means 'to adjust'. The designer uses a tongue-in-cheek approach to explore the possibilities of contemporary jewellery and presents it in a unique style that adjusts people's preconceptions of jewellery. Influenced by the period of isolation and lockdown endured by the world, A-D-Just has created a collection of watch accessories that encapsulate this unique experience. The Showroom will be showcasing the latest in this collection. A-D-Just's designs range from the "88:88 Watch" symbolizing the cessation of time to the "Heart Lock Watch," which articulates a sense of celibacy.

 

In ancient Greek mythology, the protagonist Odysseus encounters Aeolus, the god of the wind. Aeolus generously gifts Odysseus a bag that contains all the winds to aid him on his epic journey. The name Aeolus symbolises designer Julio's wild imagination with Greek mythology. Each piece of jewellery is more like an individual piece that carries an individual story, from Michelangelo’s David to the god of wine, from architecture to skeletons, from life to death. Come and listen to Julio's stories at this event.

Gazen 

GAZEN is founded by Yumeng, a jewellery designer and silversmith, growing up in China and studying in both the US and the UK has made her an observer of life, which contributes to her work as a narrative and emotional portrayal of what she saw. Her works lead audiences to face their memories head-on and then release the emotions for the public to understand with a soothing effect.

 

IVY J STUDIO is a newly founded accessory brand by the architecture designer Ivy. It is a project reborn after 9 professional years in architecture. This creative adventure into wearable artwork is extended from Ivy’s passion & experience in architecture design. All the pieces are created through computational digital generative modelling and scripting, fabricated in non-traditional material with 3D Printed technology. The brand unveils the artistic and intimate relationship between the human body and space. It isn’t just a jewellery brand; Ivy considers itself a small architectural spatial dialogue with the body.

 

Miya, the designer of M.Wong, is a poet who completes her poems in silver, and her collections usually come from her own feelings in life. Her latest collection is the result of a self-imposed struggle. She had started a smooth but boring professional life according to the expectations of her traditional East Asian parents, but soon decided that this boring life wasn't sustainable for her as an artist, so she started to create, founded a brand, and started a new life that seemed to be rebellious as if breaking the peace of a stagnant pool of water. That's why she named this chapter of poems written in silver jewellery is named 'Stirring up a river’.

 

 

Like an elf, like a fairy, like a dream that can't be described in words. These are the words that usually come to mind when you see Moonbank's work. Founded in California, USA, Moonbank as a jewellery brand hopes to serve as a moon bank that "collects the moon and stores romance", carrying novelty and unconventional romance without following the trend.

 

RoundFace jewellery is designed by Chloe and Wendy whose friendship spans over ten years. RoundFace is handmade jewellery that strives towards embodying the elements of nature while retaining an organic look that the owner can wear with confidence. The Showroom featured RoundFace's latest collection as well as classic styles from past collections.

 

 

 

Susi Somos has always been known for the exquisite texture of the jewellery. ‘Sense of being comfortable in the sand’ is the topic of the latest collection ‘ASLEEP ON THE SAND’. Inspired by the Roaring Twenties in the 1920s, some incongruous combination of modernism and anti-tradition spirit, The Designer trying to create unrestrained Jewellery pieces by using unfettered gem forms and the sense of perfection and imperfection that are not defined by tradition.

 

 Toggler is renowned for its quirky girly accessory designs. The latest collection is inspired by the whimsical and crazy world of Alice's fairytale. The fluttering bread butterflies in the fairytale are transformed into bow decorations on the body of a young girl, combined with fresh and bright colours and inlaid with delicate natural mother-of-pearl to create a style that is both vintage and romantic.

 

 

Chenxi Zhou is a jewellery artist from the University of the Arts London. She is fascinated by the emotions and attitudes conveyed by narrative jewellery towards external matters. She is not limited to metal as a medium and enjoys articulating abstract emotions through visual language, often resonating subtly within her imagery.

For this series, Chenxi focuses on the cultural background of East Asian reserved and subdued nature, specifically examining the relationship between LGBTQ+ women and their families. She portrays the proactive silence observed among those in minority groups, and by tacit agreement, none of their family ever mentioned the blurred boundaries between their sex orientation and different circles.

She employs forging and other silversmithing techniques to create interactive rotating structures and parallel circles. Utilizing photo transfer processes, she transforms images of women and their growing environment into visible mediums. This articulates the complex, yet mutually independent interactions between LGBTQ+ women and their families.

Dixin’s work interrogates the relationship between time and matter, body and environment, past and present. In her defiance of the lines separating jewellery and conceptual art, Dixin’s interactive pieces reimagine the notion of jewellery and have the potential to adorn the body in a multitude of ways. Inspired by naturally occurring textures, these works are meant to emulate the effects of time on matter. The interactive synthesis of metal and eggshells reflects the sturdiness that delicate things often possess. 

 

 

Haozhe Chang is a Chinese jewellery designer based in London. She is passionate about using jewellery to give a unique answer to a seemingly ordinary topic. Her design looks day-to-day and simplistic, usually inspired by her daily life.
Haozhe Chang has had a fascination with jewellery since she was a child. After completing her undergraduate degree in biopharmaceuticals in China, she set out on a journey to explore jewellery. In order to build a systematic cognition of jewellery, she first studied jewellery in Milan for three years. Afterwards, based on her curiosity about British culture and interest in British jewellery, she decided to further her studies in the UK for a Master's degree in jewellery.

She likes to investigate the psychological state of a specific group and bring some comfort and assistance through the jewellery. As in the Checkermate project, she hopes that the interaction with the pieces will stimulate nostalgia in GEN Y and relieve the anxiety caused by the current information explosion situation.

 

Isabella Bedlington's artistic exploration delves into the contemplation of the afterlife's significance within the human experience. She undertakes inquiries that revolve around the intriguing possibility of the present existence being a continuation of a former life. The genesis of her artistic journey finds its roots in a jade ring-shaped object known as the Bi, a venerable artefact from Chinese heritage that historically accompanied departed souls on their passage to the afterlife.

Isabella's perspective aligns the concept of an afterlife with the intricate fabric of time itself. Within this framework, numerous lifetimes pivot, concealed within the enigma of time. Evoking the essence of this philosophy, Isabella's collection embodies the torus' cyclic form, which symbolizes the perpetual cycle of mortality and rebirth inherent in all corporeal entities. Distinct narratives are etched into each torus, expressed through meticulous interplays of patterns and textures.

Her method entails a meticulous, repetitive crafting process, akin to meditation, with each detail mindfully attended to. This deliberate practice instils an enduring quality within the act of creation, mirroring the ceaseless expedition of an afterlife.

 

Working mainly with metal, Jacky has created small hand-held objects through to large-scale architectural pieces for commissions, residencies and exhibitions. Having initially trained as a jeweller, Jacky has developed a broad and open approach to fluidly developing ideas, drawing from a range of metalwork techniques and processes. The hands-on manipulation of materials, metal, in particular, is something that she is passionate about. These include soldering, piercing, etching and enamelling, as well as blacksmithing and silversmithing techniques. This allows Jacky’s approach to each piece to respond sensitively to the subject matter. Her work brings together narratives from a range of sources, contemporary and historic, including archive material, interviews and handwritten notes. Scrutinising both form and surface, she strives to bring the material to life, interrogating the qualities of the material. Investigating how they can be combined to create artefacts, stimulates viewers to consider and reflect on the piece in a number of levels. Each project is completely unique, `Collages surface with cut-through details of archive material, are often supported on a linear structure. Using light and shadows in her work, allows the viewer to see beyond, a sometimes complex structure, to a simpler bolder message.

Jacky was selected by the Crafts Council for Collect Open in 2020 and the project was awarded an Arts Council grant. The We are Commoners Project gave Jacky the opportunity to create "Breaking Borders", a sculpture inspired by the loss of habitat experienced by both human refugees and the natural world, which has toured, with the rest of the exhibition, to eight venues around the UK. In 2022 she was awarded the Cockpit Bursary by the Worshipful Company of Tinplate alias Wireworkers. She has recently completed a commission for the Somerset Rural Life Museum, "Horse Power", which was funded by Somerset Art Works and The Golsoncott Foundation. During her residencies, she has created work that is now in the permanent collections of Poole Museum and Teignmouth and Shaldon Museum. For her University of Leicester Botanic Garden residency, she created three sculptures, including one informed by the captivating forms of a pin oak, now on permanent display in its grounds. She is currently the Bunhill Artist in Residence in Islington, London.

 

Kangyi Zhang is a metal and jewellery artist who recently graduated from the Royal College of Art and whose work is deeply inspired by her emotions. Using metal as her medium of choice, she creates pieces that embody her personal narrative. Each work reflects a specific moment in her life, drawing inspiration from her surroundings and the people who have shaped her journey. The craftsmanship in her projects encompasses a range of techniques, including forging, and wax carving. With hand forging, she skillfully manipulates metal to create desired shapes and forms, imbuing each piece with a unique touch. Wax carving allows her to intricately carve and refine details to achieve an organic aesthetic.

In this showroom, she has chosen artworks from three of her narrative jewellery projects. Within the 'Interpreting Principle,' she uses her jewellery design to explain intriguing theories. 'Gift Shop - City' presents a collection of objects that serve as souvenirs, acting as triggers for cherished memories. The project ‘Penguin, Shrimp, Surrogacy’ presents a scenario in which a penguin seeks a shrimp as its surrogate mother, creating an unexpected imaginary situation that invites contemplation.

 

Lois Lo is a jewellery maker, who continually strives to challenge traditional stone-setting methods while exploring the potential of non-precious metals. After a Foundation course at Camberwell, Chelsea and Wimbledon College of Art and Design (UAL), a BA in Jewellery Design from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design (UAL) and ongoing MA studies in Jewellery & Metal at the Royal College of Art, she is dedicated to improving her craft. She has been awarded the Graduate Prize for Outstanding Design, Annoushska, UK, 2020 and an award for Excellence in Non-Precious Metalwork, The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers, alias Wire Workers company. 

 

Wenyin Jiang is a Chinese jewellery designer based between London and Shanghai. During her studies at Central Saint Martins, she found the answer to construct her contemporary ode emotionally and rationally by incorporating glass, silver, gold, electronic components, as well as sound and various gemstones into a wearable art collection NIBIRU.

“In the earliest Sumerian writings, the Anunnaki were descendants of An and Ki, the god of the heavens and the goddess of the earth. They were a group of deities of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians, who lived on the planet Nibiru. Nibiru collided catastrophically with Tiamat, located between Mars and Jupiter. Tiamat split in two. Nibiru struck one part on a second pass, which became the asteroid belt. The other part was pushed into a new orbit, which became the Earth. Nibiru swings by our Earth every 3,600 years giving the Anunnaki their only chance to communicate across vast distances.”

Wenyin created specific wearable kinetic “devices” for Anunnaki to communicate the vase distance. NIBIRU embeds both physical and electronic sounds to stimulate wearers’ multi-sensory perceptions. It also highlights the aesthetic of balance, movements, and gravity. Each piece is meticulously handcrafted by herself, featuring borosilicate glass processed with diamond tools, as well as carefully crafted metal parts.

This collection has won the AUTOR 2023 Public Choice Award and has  been shortlisted for the Friedrich Becker Prize 2023. Wenyin has also been featured in The Times & The Sunday Times as “Global Talent of The Year 2022”.

 

Yiru is a jewellery artist based in London. Coming from an engineering background and graduated from the Royal College of Art, her previous work was mainly about multifunctional and modular jewellery, and her current practice is specifically focused on the structural characteristics of objects that people use in everyday life and engages with the aesthetics of mechanics. 

The main intention and concept of Yiru’s work is about regarding jewellery as both accessories and objects. Prompting people to start seeing the emotions and metaphors behind things that they may not have observed around them is another aim. Yiru tries to change the context of everyday objects to bring attention to interactive mechanical structures.

 

Yuchen Wang is a multidisciplinary designer, born in Hanover, Germany, and raised in Beijing. Coming from an architecture background, including a Master’s degree from the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL, Yuchen has always been fascinated by sensory perceptions of space and scale.

Combining her experiences in jewellery design and architecture, silversmithing and digital modelling, Yuchen’s work reflects her exploration of the intimacy between the human body and the environment, questioning the kinaesthetic and emotional connection that space builds with the people it hosts.

Yuchen has worked as a jewellery designer and independent interior designer. She has collaborated with fashion brands for accessory collections. She has also launched an interior design project in mainland China.

Yuchen’s practice looks at the human body and its interrelationship with the environment. While we are in constant interaction with the environment, detaching the image of the Self from its spatial existence tends to be difficult.

This prompted her to think: ‘is there a way to amplify the marks of the encounter?’. With the notion of ‘the body is the margin of all my perceptions’, her work focuses attention on the forces around the body, in which we experience the world intimately and intertwine with each other’s Self subjectively.

Through the use of digital techniques, AI and traditional handcrafts, Yuchen creates hybrid jewellery pieces that sit between the combination of natural and artificial, chaotic and organised, random and logical. Her further development of practical ornaments questions our position within the environment around us.

 

Zhan Zhan graduated from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University, Canada, with a bachelor’s degree in jewellery design. In 2022, Zhan obtained a master’s degree in design from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (UAL). She is good at learning from various folk myths, such as the Hyakkiyakou of Japan, the Classic of Mountains and Seas of China, Greek mythology, etc. and deconstructing their elements for her contemporary jewellery design language. Her works have frequently been exhibited in Canada, Britain, Poland and other places, including SNAG Annual Exhibition, NSCAD’s Féte á la Maín, and Co-Adorn Jewellery’s Broch & Brooch exhibition. She has won the One to Watch Award of the Bright Young Gem Competition in 2022, and been finalized in “Starry Night” for the Vaccaro Scholarship. The Hatchery collection was designed to arouse people’s curiosity and fear of magical creatures, combine the language of contemporary jewellery with traditional crafts, and connect ancient stories with jewellery. Each work has its own story, character, and emotion. The designer has been very interested in the rare animals and folk legends in Chinese mythology since childhood. “If monsters still exist among humans, what should their living habits and appearance be like?” The Hatchery series is a retrospective of the designer’s monster characters, back to the beginning of each creature. The designer tried to innovate the process of traditional enamel jewellery, combine digital design with 3D printing, make enamel jewellery three-dimensional with freer design language, and connect contemporary jewellery with digital trends. In order to make the project more sustainable, all metal materials are recast with recycled metal.

From an industrial design background, Zhaohan is starting her new journey as a fashion and contemporary artefact maker based in London. The Growth Line leverages digital methods to bring a fresh perspective to Tibetan culture's Eight Auspicious Ribbon Patterns. By embracing the craftsmanship mindset and applying it to digital technology, she aims to challenge the prevailing trend of mass production lacking purpose and individualism. She would like to strike a balance between the digital realm and traditional craftsmanship, as well as blend the realms of business and emotions. Incorporating the growth line as the fundamental input data offers a unique opportunity for everyone to customize auspicious jewellery and commemorate the cherished markers of their life journey.

 

Ziye Cao is a jewellery designer, maker, and artist. After completing her undergraduate degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing) in 2019, she worked as a product designer in Shanghai for two years, with clients including Starbucks and Unilever. In 2021, she started a Master’s degree in Jewellery & Metal at the Royal College of Art. Ziye recently exhibited her work at London Craft Week. Her research and practice are based on painting, poetry, and continuous observation of nature, as well as related research into aesthetic theory. In practice, she has a foundation in sculpting, 3D modelling software (Rhino, Blender), metal, woodworking, and clay sculpture.

Ziye's current work explores these keywords: the natural world, landscape, poetry, narrative, and mood. The main techniques used in the work are silver welding, casting, carving, and enamel (Plique-à-jour, Cloisonné)

In her work on this theme, Ziye wants to convey a feeling of joy for life, the joy of being able to experience natural changes and express these experiences. In China, where she grew up, today's society is fast-paced, people are often compared with each other, and the pressure is huge. However, after Ziye studied Chinese Buddhist wisdom, she chose to make complex and handmade works that require a significant amount of time to make. In the process, she gets close to nature and experiences the energy and emotion brought by flowers, trees, water, and sunshine. She eliminates the noise and disturbance of fame and fortune from the outside world and opens up a pure land in her heart. She spends more time with herself, asks herself questions repeatedly seeks answers, and explores her energy and direction from within. From this perspective, this set of works is the condensation of her current life experience. The work she has done in this way makes Ziye happy and proud.