The Brooch Competition

Here is another one of my very early stories; from my third year at university in fact.

An assessment was set of us 'third year crew' to design work for media personality, SBS World News Australia presenter, and "Fashionista" Lee Lin Chin. The task was a bit of a test to push us beyond our own design constraints and create something with another person's specific style in mind. We were directed to study Ms Chin's aesthetic values and additionally, choose our own theme from which to draw inspiration for the work. I had recently come across some Korean wrapping cloths called pojagi. These beautiful pieces of cloth are created from all manner of available scraps of fabric sewn together and trimmed into a square. I'd been toying with the idea of creating work purely from bits and pieces of 'scrap' silver that I had heaped into the corner of my work bench from previous projects and set this as my theme.

My "Lee Lin Chin" twin brooches design in sterling silver.
Photograph by Emily Snadden.

With Ms Chin's contemporary design aesthetic and the beautiful pojagi in mind, I played for hours, arranging and rearranging pieces of off-cuts on my bench until I chose a series of 'scraps' and set about producing a pair of brooches. Some of the chosen silver pieces were plain; others had embossed or drilled and sawn-out patterns trimmed from other designs. I constructed little frames underneath each 'scrap' to hold the pieces at different levels and angles, then soldered them together onto a solid base. To each angled segment of the design, I then applied a range of surface finishes. From oxidised and brushed, to high polish, each piece of the design held something of its own.

At the end of the project Lee Lin Chin chose her favourite design and was given that piece of jewellery to wear. Mine was not the winning piece, that honor went to Susan O'Brien. I did, however, sell my design at the Federation Square Melbourne Design Market very soon after. I'm not sure where these brooches ended up. The woman who bought them from me was thinking of giving them as a gift. Wherever they are, I do hope they are being loved, worn and enjoyed.

Love from The Jeweller. xx