The concept of ‘narrative jewellery’ has been around for awhile, although I have not come across anyone who develops their narrative jewellery in the same way I do. I don’t just build a piece around a theme. My research and stories are developed as carefully as the piece of jewellery itself. The two are woven together so tightly that to separate them would be difficult…for me anyway.
I work from a small studio in Vancouver. I am always in search of materials; found along the roadside, at flea markets and antique shops…or sent to me by kind friends and relatives who live far away. I organize my objects in ‘libraries’….gathering them together in long wide drawers. I also store each one in my memory…drawing on them to build each narrative. I’ve been collecting objects for a long time…years in some cases. I have collected from all the places I have lived or visited…Europe, North America, the Middle East, Northern Africa.
My process of making a piece can be a long one. I usually have a few pieces on the go….always dreaming of new ones. I suppose I begin as a documentarian…a sort of historical reporter. I enter history in search of connective, human stories. I try to find ways to make the past come alive….the people recognizable. I often concentrate on a single moment in time…something that seems familiar. Building each narrative layer upon layer. Thinking of what objects might help me tell a particular story. Sometimes the objects I find will change the course of a story. They might help me tell it from a new perspective. I try to be flexible and open with this process – it is always a give & take.
The work I produce is wearable art. The objects used cannot be replicated or replaced. Each piece…each story….is completely unique.
