'Ringing the Changes' 2019 - on now until mid July

An Exhibition of Extraordinary Rings at the Victoria Sewart Contemporary jewellery Gallery. The ‘Ringing the Changes’ exhibition has been a regular feature at this wonderful gallery and this year is set to feature ten incredible designers, producing everything including modern, contemporary, traditional and sculptural rings, as well as pieces featuring precious stones, art pieces and much, much more.

DISA ALLSOPP

Disa was born in London and grew up in Barbados. This special island really influenced her jewellery designs, visible in her use of colourful gemstones. Disa personally selects each stone such as golden citrines, warm garnets, rubies, sapphires and morganites. White and coloured diamonds are set on unique bands while rough and rare cut gemstones make Disa’s work contemporary and current maintaining a timeless charm.

Disa exhibits internationally with stockists throughout the UK, United States, Japan and France. A large percentage of the metal used by Disa Allsopp is recycled and she can provide Certified Diamonds on request.

All work is individually handmade in Disa’s London Studio.

YVONNE GILHOOLY

Yvonnes’ aim is to clearly illustrate the design process from start to finish. A poem becomes an image, suggests a texture or shape, a single line becomes a circle, suggests a solid, transforms into a sphere, is pierced to allow the light to reference the void within, how the thought becomes the reality, how these link together, form and reform to evolve into complimentary pieces of the same story, to show how the beginning becomes the endless end.

How the inspiration becomes the creation, process is key as designs continue to develop whilst at the bench. Using traditional gold smithing skills Yvonne responds intuitively to materials. Recent work showcases a bold combination of gemstones and precious metals in an exploration of poetic geometry. Ultimately Yvonne’s aim is to create covetable, thought provoking jewellery.

KATE HODGSON

Drawing with pen and drawing with gold hold the same magic for both heart, soul and intellect. As my work has developed over 20 years, the botanical influence has literally grown, from my hammered petals, to my large flower brooch to the commitment ring and now the flower setting and my botanical drawings. I worked with vintage costume jewellery at the start of my career and those swirling, weaving motifs have always drawn my eye. This jewellery was borne from fine jewellery clients wanting costume jewellery to wear with easy, by the poolside or out and about, without the value of the real pieces. Jewellery that expresses design, form, skills and colour and who’s value is interchangeable with the materials used.

I now specialise in the Victorian Flower Setting, where the metal is pulled over the stone to create tiny flower shapes, it’s a setting that has been handed through four sets of hands from the original Victorian craftsmen. You are commissioning tiny pieces of our making and design history to wear, as a new heirloom, for the flower setting to been seen and admired by the fifth and sixth generations.

STEPHANIE HOLT

I love what I do. And my work reflects this. Each piece is made with careful attention to design, development and detail. I work with precious metals, gemstones and modern materials to create small and exclusive ranges of fine contemporary jewellery and unique, statement pieces that surprise and engage. I studied Jewellery and Silversmithing at the wonderful School of Jewellery in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter and I am currently Artist in Residence there. My inspiration comes from a fascination with the world around us and our relationship with it, the natural and un-natural wonders in our world and my life experiences and influences which weave their way into my work.

HEATHER MC DERMOT

Heather McDermott Jewellery specialises in contemporary jewellery. She takes her inspiration from the shoreline on the Isle of Skye, where she grew up. The tideline of Skye is a treasure trove of unique objects discarded from the urban environment and deposited by the power of the Hebridean swell. Here rope, wood and plastic take on a subtler identity as wind and wave shape, and re-shape form and colour.

These inspirational scenes are developed and translated in my work by utilising shapes and colours. Unconventional in size and structure, each piece is an expression of sculptural form and is designed to create a statement. The continually changing shoreline is my constant source of inspiration and my current collection ‘tidal surge’ is the contemporary interpretation of these surroundings.

The industrial nature of the stainless steel is hand formed into soft geometric shapes mimicking fishing nets and lobster pots. Repetition creates chaotic chain which is then embellished with simple vivid discs of colour inspired by washed up buoys.

LAURA NGYOU

My jewellery reflects a fascination for miniature worlds found within the natural landscape, from exotic jungle flora to the humble rock pool. I have a passion for intricate detail, and an experimental approach to making. My obsession with geology drives me to select the most interesting and unusual specimens in both uncut and polished gemstones.By pouring molten gold and silver onto vegetation, such as pine needles and grass species, negative spaces and striated textures are formed as the metal burns through the organic matter. From these I compose jewellery sympathetic to a gemstone’s individual character – reimagining the landscape and dynamic crystalline structures from which it was discovered.

EMILY THATCHER

The individuality of nature drives Emily’s design process, infinitely varied as it is, especially at a cellular level. The elegance of form in her pieces draws inspiration from this microscopic world.

She selects unique gem material for each design, working to expose the honesty of the stone – the inclusions and fractures, responding to these innate characteristics rather than discarding them. Using traditional hand-fabrication techniques and utilising colours of both stones and precious metals Emily draws the eye around the designs, exploring both negative and positive space.

Originally from Cambridge, Emily studied a BA Hons in Silversmithing, Jewellery & Allied Crafts at The Cass, London and now works from her studio in Sheffield exhibiting her work both nationally and internationally.

ANNA WALES

Anna focuses her passion for craftsmanship on creating collections of fine jewellery that speaks simultaneously of delicacy and strength. The process of making, the intimate nature of jewellery and the feel of the final piece are all integral to her work. Smooth sheet metal is transformed into textured organic shapes; articulated and layered together to form flowing pieces that sit sensually against the skin and celebrates the movement of the body. The ancient technique of Keum-Boo is used to apply rich gold tones beside shimmering silver, creating compositions of colour and texture, light and shadow. The addition of gemstones and diamonds give spark and movement to the more discreet pieces, accentuating and highlighting their quiet beauty. Each piece is a little labour of love, made to be loved.

MISUN WON

Misun Won’s jewellery is often associated with the delicacy of highly refined handcraft skill in East. Her extensive experience of living and working in both Britain and Korea has given her the broader cultural outlook she sought when moving away from home. It has enabled her to position herself in what she calls “neutral territory” and to examine both cultures with “fresh eyes”. The influences of both countries can be seen in her work: a major inspiration is Korean patchwork, but this highly traditional form is interpreted through Western fractal geometry. She wants to associate the beauty of rhythmical playful structure from Jogakbo with her jewellery. As the composition of Jogakbo is based on nature, she employs the fractal geometry in order to analyze the complex compositions of Jogakbo. Her in-depth study in the fractal geometry and Jogakbo helps her to create dynamic structures for her collection. Her meditative making process is an act of pray for wearers as the act of imbuing auspicious qualities with her jewellery parallels the wish of ancient Korean house wives who made Jogakbo for their family members.

After graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2008 with a master degree, she worked at the college as an artist in residency and a visiting lecturer. She recently won a finalist in professional category in contemporary jewelry awards Enjoia’t, FAD, Barcelona 2011 and a gold award for Fashion Production Jewellery in Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Award in 2008. She has been exhibiting her jewellery in UK, Europe, and USA. Now she is working in her cozy studio at Coburg House Art Studios & Gallery in Leith, Edinburgh.

YEN

Yen Duong expresses her passion for art and design through jewellery. By focusing on elegant and considered designs her work addresses complexities that go beyond the purely aesthetic. The physical and visual fluidity in her designs encapsulate a rare intriguing quality and her work is imbued with an unique attraction. 21 years on Yen’s work is still sold directly to her loyal customers from her central London studio in Bloomsbury.

Yen is fascinated by the construction of jewellery and how this influences the feel of a piece, by focusing on the ways in which the structural and connective complexities relate. The exciting challenge is to design jewellery that makes precious metal feel soft and dynamic.

Intricacy and precision are integral to the quality that is experienced by her loyal clients. Wearing a piece of Yen Jewellery becomes a journey of interpretation and enjoyment, which feels different each and every time.

Subtle nuances diffuse and differentiate the ranges, designed to appeal to various tastes and for all occasions.