Then and Now

‘Then and Now’ identifies a current trend in the use of traditional forms and the symbolic and sentimental roles of jewellery to explore contemporary issues concerning value, memory and secrets.

The work of Laura Potter includes a traditional christening bracelet engraved with “Bastard” and a high-street gold necklace emblazoned with "Cheap" which addresses both viewer and wearers' ideas of value and taste while Gijs Bakker recreates costume jewellery substituting paste jewels with genuine, precious ones. Rory Hooper‘s squashed gold echoes once treasured items, stored away, damaged and then rediscovered and transformed into new creations with renewed meaning.

Body Stamps by David and Azumi (A'N'D), allow the wearer to don the graphic image of a gold watch rather than the weighty item itself like a fake “fake” Rolex.

Lin Cheung‘s lockets only reveal their secrets - evocative words such as love, caress, breast, kisses - when breathed upon.

Many pieces are made of gold and precious materials, but the value is not from their intrinsic worth, but in what can be explored through looking at our relationship with these materials and pieces of jewellery, such as the locket, the cameo etc.