ICONS: Jewellery for the famous and infamous

17 May - 27 July 2014

The theme of the exhibition has allowed for wide interpretation, creating a cohesive and interesting narrative for the show without restraining individual creativity, allowing some very personal and unique work to be created.

There are as many ways of interpreting the brief as there are jewellers within the show. Many have chosen to take inspiration from an iconic personality, in a variety of ways.
This is evident in the works of two jewellers who have chosen Vivienne Westwood to inspire their work. It is fascinating to see the works of Emily Kidson and Jodie Hook who have crafted such contrasting objects. Hook's work is sleek, angular, sharp and made from a single piece of cold metal whilst Kidson has created a collection from warmer textiles and wood, using multiple soft elements.

Taking a slightly different approach to the icons brief, Lotus de Wit has chosen to create a piece to be worn and used by her iconic personality. Her humorous yet cleverly practical ‘Wearable Water Filter Brooch for Sir David Attenborough' affords the well known naturalist the luxury of an ornate silver brooch coupled with the practicality of a water filter to be used on his many expeditions.

As well as iconic people, the world is also full of iconic objects. Products, buildings, toys and of course artworks themselves can all become icons and we see all of these reflected within the show.
Hannah David's ‘Reflexions of the Shard' uses silver and lemon quartz to great effect to simulate the sun's reflection on this iconic piece of architecture.
Gill Forsbrook takes inspiration from a much smaller icon, the children's construction toy - Playplax. Rather than create a representation of her icon, Forsbrook cleverly uses the objects themselves to actually construct her jewellery, perhaps a suggestion of how important and stimulating creative play can be, not only as a child but also within professional practice.

With so many styles and materials represented throughout, the exhibition promises to be an interesting survey of current trends within the medium.