This month our Maker of the Month feature will be taking a slightly different form to coincide with the ‘Flourish’ exhibition by the current GSA silversmithing and jewellery artists in residence that will be occupying our window from the 25th of April to the 5th of May.

‘Flourish’ is a Contemporary Jewellery and Silversmithing Exhibition by Glasgow School of Art’s 7 Artists in Residency 2018-19

‘An observation of commonality through diversity that emerges from shared experience’

Michelle Stewart (Australia)

Adrienn Pesti (Hungary)

Ailsa Morrant (Scotland)

Andrew Fleming (Scotland)

Astrid Jaroslawsky (Germany)

Rachel Hardie (Scotland)

Caitlin Hegney (Scotland)

In the aftermath of the fire that devastated the Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh

building at the heart of its campus, these 7 emerging artists have gathered to spend

a year working alongside one another in the School’s Silversmithing and Jewellery

Artists in Residency Programme.

In the shifting milieu of Scotland’s largest city, each artist has a clear focus in mind

and a personal direction to navigate, and each brings their own experiences and

perspectives to the residency, from a deep ancestral belonging in the Glasgow arts,

to the comfortable familiarity of an adopted home or to experiencing the old city

through fresh eyes.

These artists all have a way of interpreting this place that echoes the ingenuity of the

Scots. With daily visual clues from a city that boasts an architectural tenacity of the

ages and a cultural undercurrent of resilience, humour, strength of character and

generosity that permeates all; these artists can’t help but infuse these characteristics

in their work.

From 26 th April to 4 th May 2019, the artists’ will show work in progress during their

‘Flourish’ exhibition hosted in Glasgow by ‘Welcome Home’ in the Centre for

Contemporary Arts. Meet the artists sessions throughout the exhibition will enable

the artists to test and listen to the work’s resonance within the city where it was

conceived and created.

Then, in the early autumn, it will emigrate to Australia, as many generations of Scots

have, where ‘Flourish’ will be hosted by Craft Victoria in Melbourne 3 rd September to

5 th October 2019 as part of the Radiant Pavilion programme 2019.

Michelle Stewart completed a BA (Hons) in Fine Art at RMIT University, Melbourne,

in 2017.

Spending a year as an Artist in Residence at the Glasgow School of Art has driven

Michelle to

investigate the stimulus of materiality in a closer context. With a concentrated focus

on site

specificity, Michelle continues to explore ideas surrounding connection to place. She

is

intrigued by the way an object, material or site can emit a power and create

connections between

people, whether it is a sentimental reverence, a shared experience or a faint

recollection of

familiarity that a material can illicit when handled.

Adrienn Pesti is interested in social alienations expressed through stereotypes,

prejudices and is

enthused by creating possibilities of how to overcome these judgements. Inspiration

lies in creating

platforms for people from all walks of life, investing their relationships with fellow

humans and their

environment. She is interested in how jewellery can function as an object to prompt

social

interactions. Her work reverts us to an almost childlike curiosity. The bright colours

and unique

textures appeal to the senses, traits that all humans share. Her current project

nurtures her concept

through contemporary industrial enamelling, structural silver work and 3D printed

nylon.

Ailsa Morrant catches and celebrates fleeting, instinctive, subconscious moments of

connection with

ourselves and others; not big moments, rather transient, everyday ones that are

often over before

we are even aware they were happening.

Being mindful of the ones we often rush past can give us happiness, contentment

and resilience.

In an age when jewellery for many has predominantly become an expression of

materialism, Ailsa makes every day, ordinary moments visible and wearable.

Quietly activist, by using everyday materiality from our environment, Ailsa explores

jewellery’s primordial role and value in society as a means of self- expression and

mindfulness.

Andrew Fleming is a recent graduate of the Glasgow School of Art . Andrew is

exploring the subject of silversmithing in its relationship to the built environment.

Having studied architecture, he is fascinated by the construction processes within

architecture.

Temporary structures such as scaffolding and formers inspire his process. In his

research he has been concentrating on table ware and vessels and how silverware

today can best function the needs of its contemporary user. Focusing on linear forms

and using a mix of precious and non-precious metals such as steel, he creates

fascinating contemporary pieces.

Astrid Jaroslawsky is a Scottish based goldsmith and jewellery designer from

Germany. She graduated in 2014 from ‘’Der staatlichen Zeichenakadmie Hanau“ as

a goldsmith and graduated in 2018 from the Glasgow School of Art with a BA (Hons)

in Silversmithing and Jewellery Design.

Astrid´s work explores jewellery as mnemonic pieces. Throughout a varied material

palette and her fascination with material textures, her work explores heritage and

materials sentimental, as well as intrinsic value. “I believe that jewellery through its

private relationship to ourselves can act as mementoes which speak of memories,

places, experiences and people.”

As a maker Rachel Hardie enjoys combining her love of drawing and metalwork

skills to create sketch-like

objects inspired by the architectural quirks of her hometown of Glasgow, paying

particular homage

to the chimneys which sleep above the city. Through her practice she likes to use

both precious and

non-precious metal as she is intrigued by their contrasting colours which she further

explores

through heat patination and oxidisation. Imperfection is also embraced by

intentionally exposing

solder joins and highlighting marks born from the making process.

Caitlin Hegney is a Scottish Artist and Jeweller exploring the enigmatic qualities of

heritage. She is

currently fascinated by the history of the colour blue. The processes that Caitlin uses

are meditative

and rhythmical; chasing in metal, carving into wood and crushing stone. Caitlin’s

practice

simultaneously celebrates and subverts traditional techniques, energising and

engaging with ancient

processes. ‘‘I visualise myself as a collector and researcher. Making jewellery is the

medium which

allows me to combine my fascinations surrounding anthropology and materiality.”