Kate Wilkinson

About Kate Wilkinson

 

Having trained at Bradford Art College, Loughborough College of Art and Design and then finally completing an MA at The Royal College of Art in 1996, I set up a studio in London with the help of the 1000th Crafts Council Setting Up Grant. I have been making mixed media jewellery for twenty years and now work from my garden studio in Buckinghamshire .I joined the OCG in 2016 and was delighted to be awarded runner up in the Guild Prize at the Christmas Woodstock Exhibition.

My jewellery is very much material and process led, I experiment at the bench and gather ideas whilst making endless sample units. These generally silver units then form the basis of a collection and vary in size, colour, texture and the order in which they are combined together with other materials such as semi-precious beads, coloured acrylics and cork.

Texture plays a key role in my work and I emboss the silver with a variety of materials, the humblest of which often gives the most surprisingly delicate surface. In my FRAGMENT series I use fabrics that hold precious memories, I make up a patchwork of small textured silver pieces in to a larger panel which is then hung from a torque style necklace made of beautiful climbing cord, trying to make something strong and more permanent out of a fleeting moment.

ADELPHA rose from the simple notion that they are all” born of the same womb”, a simple leaf shape with a twist made using an adapted tool and a simple repetitive movement which can then be soldered together in patterns both geometric and random, varying scales and surfaces this is an ongoing collection that I return to again and again. Recently I have been adding very small detailed settings of coloured cork which add a gem like feature.

LUNA is my new work which I am eager to explore further. Here I am using the flattering combination of silver and cork to form pure half moon shapes with coloured cork inserts. I have always liked the juxtaposition of unexpected materials in jewellery and the use of the soft but strong cork and hard silver is a satisfying combination to work with.