Cabinet of Curiosities 2015
This Christmas the Goldsmiths’ Centre is bringing a new twist to the traditional Advent Calendar in partnership with our neighbours, Craft Central. Twenty-four handmade products by trainees and resident craftspeople at the Goldsmiths’ Centre and designer-makers at Craft Central are hidden behind the wooden doors of our Cabinet of Curiosities.
The selection of pieces is finely curated to include everything from Christmas decorations and home accessories to bespoke jewellery and designer products. Every day a new door will be opened by a member of the public to reveal one of the pieces and bring us closer to the festive season.
Get in touch to open a door of our Advent Calendar and be entered into a prize draw to win coffee and cake for two in our café, Bench. Send us a message on our Facebook page, tweet #xmascabinet or email boxoffice@goldsmiths-centre.org
Wondering what’s behind the already opened doors? Take a look at the image below and find out more about the exhibits by hovering over each piece.
Emily Jo Gibbs
With some of her pieces being held in the permanent collection of the V&A, the Craft Council and The Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Emily Jo Gibbs is known for her exquisite handbags. Emily who is based at Craft Central, finds inspiration in nature and experiments with different materials to create beautiful objects.
Victoria von Stein
Setting Out course participant Victoria von Stein is a jewellery designer-maker that primarily uses silver and gold in combination with gemstones. Victoria designs for the modern woman and her pieces are inspired by her travels, nature and decorative objects. Her pieces are uniquely created with emphasis on originality and high quality.
Elizabeth Smallman
Elizabeth Smallman is a designer that turned her love for all things vintage into unique handmade creations including prints and lampshades. Ever since she started, she has launched different collections such as the Pin Up Girl range Crumpet & Skirt and her products have been featured in many publications. Her studio is located at Craft Central.
Karyn Johnstone
Karyn Johnstone specialises in bespoke lampshades for residential and commercial use and she is a resident at Craft Central. Using both traditional and contemporary product techniques, Karyn designs and prints her own fabrics which makes her work unique. Her collections are inspired by nature, trips and other geometrical patterns.
Charis Tsang
Based at Craft Central designer Charis Tsang explores London’s history through linocutting. With a background in architecture, Charis is fascinated by the stories that are hidden in every corner of the city and is inspired by everything that deserves to be remembered or documented.
Alexandra Tosto
Alexandra Tosto completed the Setting Out course in 2014 and is a resident jewellery designer-maker at the Goldsmiths’ Centre. Influenced by Quantum Theory and inspired by the universal and detailed magnificence of nature, Alex Tosto uses visual geometric rhythm or physical movement to establish a strong interaction between the piece and its wearer.
Jo Angell
Jo Angell’s textile designs and products are characterised by rhythmic patterns in vibrant colours printed in luxurious natural tactile fabrics. Jo finds inspiration in patterns and shapes found in our environment and her designs are a combination of handmade sketches and computer manipulated designs, all created in her Craft Central studio.
Rosie Sharp Jones
Jo Angell’s textile designs and products are characterised by rhythmic patterns in vibrant colours printed in luxurious natural tactile fabrics. Jo finds inspiration in patterns and shapes found in our environment and her designs are a combination of handmade sketches and computer manipulated designs, all created in her Craft Central studio.
Miriam Griffith
Using high quality locally sourced and mostly natural materials, Miriam Griffith located at Craft Central, specialises in knitwear with a focus on surface textile. Colour is an important part of her creative process and her goal is to create pieces that are easily wearable and can be incorporated into our everyday style.
Abigale Booth
Abi Booth is a quilter and the co-founder of Forest-and-Found. Focusing on traditional craftsmanship, Abi creates products that combine old techniques and contemporary design to develop a relationship with the natural environment. Her goal is to make products that will be passed down from generation to generation.
Marby and Elm
Eleanor Tattersfield is the founder of Marby & Elm, a letterpress design studio based in Clerkenwell. Their collections include a range of stationery, produced using contemporary design and colour with traditional methods from the use of vintage type and hand drawn lettering to their distinctive fluoro inks.
Yuta Segawa
Yuta Segawa is a Japanese ceramic artist specialising in producing miniature pottery. He learned high ceramic skills in Japan and China and developed it into techniques of miniature pots in London. All miniature pots are thrown individually by hand and he use more than five hundred original glazes he made. Miniature pottery relates to the issue of the relationship between artists’ bodies and their works.
Suki Cheema
Suki Cheema specialises in rugs, pillows and scarves. Suki’s collections are inspired by different places where his team and Suki travel every year. Trying to capture the culture from their trips, they use old techniques to create modern textiles with three dimensional elements and added texture.
Sue Lewis
Based at Craft Central, Sue Lewis is interested in and inspired by the plethora of behaviours and colours of the materials available to the jeweller. Sue works with gold and silver, often combined with diamonds or semi-precious gemstones. Her pieces are unique and handmade, created to be often worn and enjoyed.
Nina Gale
Based in Craft Central, Nina Gale is a jewellery designer-maker, inspired by geometry and rhythms in nature as well as man-made objects and she experiments with different forms. Nina usually works with silver and non-precious metals and she combines digital designs with traditional metalworking techniques.
Chloe Herrero
Getting Started course alumni Chloe Herrero’s latest collection explores issues around perfection and imperfection and the paradoxical relation between the concept of jewellery and our need to pursue perfection. By using distorted or distressed elements, Chloe emphasises on our tendency to wear imperfect jewellery to create the perfect image for ourselves.
Max Cairns
Max Cairns’s source of inspiration is the British Flora & Fauna, the bold colours and natural beauty found throughout the British Isles. The dominant characteristic in his work is geometrical shapes which are combined with organic forms and intricate details. Designed and produced in his studio at Craft Central, Max’s creations incorporate handmade processes to showcase the native wildlife found naturally.
Maiko Dawson
Specialising in shoes and handbags, Maiko Dawson is a designer-maker that primarily works with leather. Her inspiration comes from colours and shapes that she finds in everyday life from streets to markets and nature. Combining traditional designs with modern elements, Maiko uses high quality materials to create durable and functional products.
Mireia Rosell
Mireia Rossell is a jewellery designer from Spain. Mireia focuses on simplicity and flexibility that would allow the wearer to interact creatively with the piece and define its form. With her work, she explores the essence of each material and invites the wearer to use their curiosity to do the same. Her studio is located at Craft Central.
Sally Evans
Sally Evans creates knitted cushions and poufs. She uses 100% cotton or 100% wool and her pieces are constructed in a way as to include three dimensional elements that make them feel sculptural. The colours used are inspired by Brighton and the surrounding area.
Clara Castner
Clara Castner is interested in the touch and feel of the ceramic surface and her creations are inspired by a range of found and made textures and patterns to create a unique experience for the person interacting with them. Part of her design process is utilising her own photographic knowledge and work. Her studio is located at Craft Central.
Foundation Programme Students
Every year up to 10 talented young people join the Goldsmiths’ Centre’s Foundation Programme, receiving the training and hand skills to become a goldsmith. These pieces were created by students completing their training in 2014; and demonstrate their skills level at the end of their course.
Abigail Buckingham
Abigail Buckingham completed the Foundation Programme course for 16 to 19 year old trainees in 2013 and is now a Goldsmiths’ Company Apprentice with A R Buckingham. The Goldsmiths’ Company Apprenticeship Scheme is delivered by the Goldsmiths’ Centre, funded by the Goldsmiths’ Company and supports young talented people, like Abigail, to enter successful careers as a goldsmith.