Ailsa Morrant: Glasgow School of Art. Selected Graduate 2018
Published: 16.09.2018

Ailsa Morrant’s jewellery is a celebration. What started as an investigation into why and what we wear as jewellery, Morrant’s research soon became a personal journey and interrogation of sentiment, memory and anticipating. Celebrating the everyday and anticipation a moment, remembering to take time to enjoy the little things in life and create wearable pieces that significantly celebrate these or anticipate the celebration. The variety of materials used reflects the personal and bespoke nature of each piece and the narrative behind it.
/ Anna Gordon, Head of Department and Programme Leader.
Glasgow School of Art, United Kingdom.
Jewellery in a world of despair: objects of mindful wellbeing? Bachelor Honours Thesis 2018.
Through the lens of jewellery, I investigated happiness, its commodification and how, ironically, the pressure of achieving it, is contributing to a global epidemic of mental illness rather than eradicating it.
Jewellery evolved from a primordial act of self-expressive, mindful adornment that elicited wellbeing. However, today’s confused and depressed capitalist society is, paradoxically, buying more jewellery without realising this effect.
I, therefore, hypothesized that the promotion and realisation of jewellery’s potent primordial effect, focused on everyday materiality and self-expression, rather than materialism and status, could contribute to societal mental health improvement.
To test this, I initially focused on making visible our primordial, existential senses by studying handshakes; a social ritual which subconsciously, psychologically connects us for a moment, enabling the sensing of each other, without us even being aware what is happening until afterwards.
I made casts of the palm to palm space that exists between people when they shook hands. These unique casts look like disembodied internal organs. The first outcome of my thesis was, therefore, a series of these forms entitled Organs of Society. To consider the relationship of social connectivity, value and materiality I cast the forms in materials ranging from chocolate through to precious metals.
Then, from structured interviews with jewellers and non-jewellers, along with studies of how wearing jewellery made from the handshake forms affected the wearers, I identified that the jewellery which is most effective in building emotional resilience and mindfulness is that which materialises from moments of connection. To explore this further I created my second outcome, a portrait series of 16 medals to my everyday moments entitled Sensing every moment: a celebration of the ordinary.
One of my medals, A moment when I lost it, was a back to back pair of double brooch pins. This piece engaged both the wearer and others, conceptually and physically. It prompted me to further investigate the relationship between mindfulness and the ‘tense’ of a piece. From my observations, to reinforce mindfulness, a piece must speak of ‘carpe diem’ or ‘memento vivere’ rather than a past moment.
Celebrate the moment, is my final series in this body of work, continuing my exploration of engagement, materiality, mindfulness and tense through brooches incorporating the transient, playful materiality of a balloon that can be inflated and worn in seconds, celebrating a moment, and pod brooch kits that can be used as a changeable displays to keep safe everyday fragments associated with a moment’s experience.
From my study I have concluded that there is a prevalent, conflicting, subversive, societal relationship between mental health, materiality, materialism and self-expression and that this is narrated through society’s perception and use of jewellery, which has a duplicitous role in our material culture.
Elements of this conclusion echo what initiated the Postmodernist New Jewellery Movement, but I hope my gently activist work identifies another solution through an emerging Mindful Activist Jewellery Movement, working collaboratively to enable others to adopt a mindful approach to creating and using jewellery to improve mental health and resilience.
/ Ailsa Morrant
More work and contacts:
Website: www.ailsamorrant.com
Instagram: ailsamorrant
Email: ailsamorrant.artdesignmake@gmail.com
Find out more about the courses and deadlines for applications to Glasgow School of Art.
Jewellery in a world of despair: objects of mindful wellbeing? Bachelor Honours Thesis 2018.
Through the lens of jewellery, I investigated happiness, its commodification and how, ironically, the pressure of achieving it, is contributing to a global epidemic of mental illness rather than eradicating it.
Jewellery evolved from a primordial act of self-expressive, mindful adornment that elicited wellbeing. However, today’s confused and depressed capitalist society is, paradoxically, buying more jewellery without realising this effect.
I, therefore, hypothesized that the promotion and realisation of jewellery’s potent primordial effect, focused on everyday materiality and self-expression, rather than materialism and status, could contribute to societal mental health improvement.
To test this, I initially focused on making visible our primordial, existential senses by studying handshakes; a social ritual which subconsciously, psychologically connects us for a moment, enabling the sensing of each other, without us even being aware what is happening until afterwards.
I made casts of the palm to palm space that exists between people when they shook hands. These unique casts look like disembodied internal organs. The first outcome of my thesis was, therefore, a series of these forms entitled Organs of Society. To consider the relationship of social connectivity, value and materiality I cast the forms in materials ranging from chocolate through to precious metals.
Then, from structured interviews with jewellers and non-jewellers, along with studies of how wearing jewellery made from the handshake forms affected the wearers, I identified that the jewellery which is most effective in building emotional resilience and mindfulness is that which materialises from moments of connection. To explore this further I created my second outcome, a portrait series of 16 medals to my everyday moments entitled Sensing every moment: a celebration of the ordinary.
One of my medals, A moment when I lost it, was a back to back pair of double brooch pins. This piece engaged both the wearer and others, conceptually and physically. It prompted me to further investigate the relationship between mindfulness and the ‘tense’ of a piece. From my observations, to reinforce mindfulness, a piece must speak of ‘carpe diem’ or ‘memento vivere’ rather than a past moment.
Celebrate the moment, is my final series in this body of work, continuing my exploration of engagement, materiality, mindfulness and tense through brooches incorporating the transient, playful materiality of a balloon that can be inflated and worn in seconds, celebrating a moment, and pod brooch kits that can be used as a changeable displays to keep safe everyday fragments associated with a moment’s experience.
From my study I have concluded that there is a prevalent, conflicting, subversive, societal relationship between mental health, materiality, materialism and self-expression and that this is narrated through society’s perception and use of jewellery, which has a duplicitous role in our material culture.
Elements of this conclusion echo what initiated the Postmodernist New Jewellery Movement, but I hope my gently activist work identifies another solution through an emerging Mindful Activist Jewellery Movement, working collaboratively to enable others to adopt a mindful approach to creating and using jewellery to improve mental health and resilience.
/ Ailsa Morrant
More work and contacts:
Website: www.ailsamorrant.com
Instagram: ailsamorrant
Email: ailsamorrant.artdesignmake@gmail.com
Find out more about the courses and deadlines for applications to Glasgow School of Art.
Object: Primordial, 2018
Bronze, Silver, Gold Leaf
65 x 35 x 15 mm.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Ailsa Morrant. Photograph of sandcasting pewter handshake.
10 x 10 cm, Photographic paper.
10 x 10 cm, Photographic paper.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Ring: Marital Material, 2018
Brass, Porcelain, Silver, Glass, Gold Leaf
55 x 25 x 35 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Handshake Jewellery
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Ailsa Morrant. Sensing Every Moment: A celebration of the Ordinary. A portrait series of 16 medals to everyday moment of my life.
8.5 x 3 x 2.5 cm.
Mixed materials including silver, bronze, copper, latex, jesmonite and found objects.
8.5 x 3 x 2.5 cm.
Mixed materials including silver, bronze, copper, latex, jesmonite and found objects.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Medal: A moment to come. A moment too late. A treasured moment on Hope Street, 2018
Bronze, silver, copper, steel, jesmonite, latex.
85 x 30 x 25 mm.
Photo by: Shannon Tofts
From series: Sensing Every Moment: A Celebration of the Ordinary
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Pin: A moment when I lost it, 2018
A reversible, back to back pair of brooch pins.
25 x 10 x 10 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Sensing Every Moment: A Celebration of the Ordinary
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Pin: A moment when I lost it, 2018
A reversible, back to back pair of brooch pins connecting the clothes of 2 wearers.
25 x 10 x 10 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Sensing Every Moment: A Celebration of the Ordinary
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Anticipate the moment, 2018
Silver, glass, nickel titanium, latex.
80 x 80 x 50 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Celebrate the Moment
A brooch containing a balloon ring pendant which is placed behind a glass circle and then entrapped by the inverting the balloon over it and attaching the brooch back.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Anticipate the moment, 2018
Silver, glass, nickel titanium, latex.
80 x 80 x 50 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Celebrate the Moment
Front view.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Pendant: Balloon Ring pendants, 2018
Silk cords, latex, silver.
30 x 30 x 45 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Celebrate the Moment
Balloon with hand held ring and balloon threader on silk cord.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Ring: Balloon Rings Inflated, 2018
Oxidised silver, 22ct gold plated and latex.
30 x 30 x 45 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Celebrate the Moment
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Ring: Balloon Rings Inflated, 2018
Oxidised silver, 22ct gold plated and latex.
30 x 30 x 45 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Celebrate the Moment
Alternative view
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Pod brooch kit, 2018
Silver, brass, glass, nickel titanium, latex.
80 x 80 x 50 mm.
Photo by: Ailsa Morrant
From series: Celebrate the Moment
Kit assembled containing dandelion seeds.
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
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