This week, CLOG is proud to present an interview with one of our nearest and dearest jewellers, Emma Grace. Working from her studio in the Nicholas Building (along with COUNTER stockists Jasmina Krupic and Nadine Treister - it's a small world), Emma creates an array of jewellery ranging from finely detailed silver animals to fun plastic brooches that have interchangeable parts.
In addition to being passionate about jewellery, Emma is also a strong supporter of sustainable living. As such, Emma endeavours to include recycle materials in her jewellery whenever possible, creating in enviable and ethically responsible jewellery. Hurrah for Emma!
A fellow blogger as well (double hurrah), Emma's design ethos is an inspiration to all. We hope you enjoy reading today's interview and we hope it inspires you as well.
Emma, hard at work at her studioAbout my design process…
When creating, I will often skip the sketching part and work straight with my materials – I get quite impatient sometimes so I need my hands to directly channel the visions in my mind. When I’m too busy with production to make new work, I end up with a heap of cartoon-like drawings with little arrows and captions all over them – some of them will become reality but most are just testament to the strange way my creative mind works – I’m sure they’ll make a very telling retrospective some day!
What puts you in the mood to create?
Apart from all the lovely things like coffee and chats with my creative friends, I find procrastination from paper-work really puts me in the mood! On rarer occasions, when I have the pleasure of watching a really good band, I find I am at my most inspired- I’m not sure if it is being spurred on by the energy of the music, the crowd, or just the fact that I’m in music-bliss, but all my favourite ideas have come to me while at a gig.
When did you become interested in jewellery? Was it nature or nurture?
Craft is most definitely in my nature, but I have nurtured my skills towards jewellery in particular.
Have any artists/jewellers/fellow craftspeople been an inspiration for you?
In high school I remember being absolutely blown away by Fiona Hall’s Paradisus Terrestris, a1989-1990 collection of sculptures – the forms were beautiful and the ideas behind them really sat well with me as a young feminist. Cornelia Parker is another of my inspirations, particularly for her work Cold, Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991).
Most recently, it is the work of Emily Pilloton for Project H that has got me really excited – I can’t say enough about how important I think her work and direction is – she is definitely leading the way of the future.
You've been very busy lately! Could you please tell us what you've been working on and what's next for you?
Design wise I’ve been working on a precious metal wearable range based on my last exhibition (Efflorescence at Black Finch in Northcote, Melbourne), which I’m pretty excited about.
Untitled, copper, paper, silver and steel.
From Emma's recent exhibition Efflorescence at Black Finch in December 2008.
And on a larger scale?
The larger scale is top-secret at the moment!
What is your favourite work that you've made so far?
It is actually a piece I made just a couple of months ago for an exhibition at Milly Sleeping. It is a ring that can also be a necklace made out of brushed and oxidized silver. It has a soft finish, organic lines and a lot of detail, but is still on the larger scale of things (which I love) and looks bold from a distance.
And finally, if you could do anything in the world tomorrow, what would you do?
Anything?! I would travel to Bora Bora and, from my lovely little hut sitting above the crystal waters sipping my Pina Colada, I would wave my wand to expel the excess CO2 from the atmosphere, clean up the oceans and bring back the forests. Then, to stop the same it happening all over again, I would wave my wand a second time to make people give a damn!
Spats neckpiece, silver and brass. Photography by Emma's studio-mate Jo Duck
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