Design Intentions

Design Intentions is all about embracing this new way of MA thinking in my own personal practice. During my BA, I really enjoyed the research side of my practice, but I always tended to use secondary research to help inspire my designs; things like statistics or facts about women and feminist issues. I always felt a struggle to visualise how I wanted to transform my thoughts and beliefs into pieces of jewellery, meaning I was never completely satisfied with my outcomes. It was almost like the ideas ended up being more important to me than the finished piece. This is something I need to concentrate and improve on in my MA, I want my research to be honest and meaningful. I am going to start this by talking to real women, and perhaps in some cases real men, and find out their true stories and opinions on feminist ideals. 

After talking to my Nana, it has started to become clear to me that the feminists that I have spent an awful lot of time researching (like the suffragettes, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst) were of a completely different class to those like my Nana; who had to work to support their family, as the husbands wage alone wasn't enough...the idea that different women were affected by feminism in different ways depending on their race, class, age is very interesting to me...was being an active feminist a luxury for the higher classes?!

My Nana  - Wynn Taylor

During a seminar we were introduced to the watchword technique, a way to help find words that encourage a deeper reflection of our practice. Words are very useful to help to explain and express what you are doing, describing your activity. I find that while your in education, especially when coming to the end of a BA, you find yourself using the same words and the same sentences to help you describe your work. Even more so perhaps, when you finish Uni; having to fill in application forms and write endless artists statements. It's a good idea to sit down and really think about the words you are using...are they successfully describing what you do? 

When filling in the form, I began with the words I am so used to using in reflection of my work; women, metal, form, domestic, wearability...it was when I started to find words that connected each of these that I started to reveal new words that I wasn't used to using. The three words I ended up with were 'intimate', 'cherished' and 'possessions'...now these aren't words I would immediately use. However when thinking more deeply about my practice, I do address topics about women - and in some ways - their insecurities, this is a very intimate thing. Objects are a big influence, in specific useful, domestic objects that may well have been cherished in use. Possessions could link to these objects, but it could also link to the beliefs that we possess on feminist issues. As a big fan of words and writing, I really enjoyed the process, and I intend to fill in another form perhaps at the end of the MA, to see how things may (or may not) have changed.

Introducing a theoretical grounding to my work...

Creatives often use their practice as a form of therapy, a voice to express their personal values and opinions; I have started to consider where exactly it is that I see myself and my practice in society and the world...where do I fit in? 

Being introduced to theories on design has opened my mind to a whole new level of thinking. Understanding your field, the context in which you work and acknowledging communities you may be part of help you to create a framework and structure for your practice. We have multiple ways of being and seeing the world, multiple ways of being one identity...we change our identity according to context. The way in which we learn and experience things plays a big part in how we produce ideas and designs. The act of transforming these thoughts, ideas and experiences into physical objects is something that seems so obvious when talking about how designs materialise, yet I have never taken the time to think about it in more detail and in the context of jewellery. 

We are becoming increasingly familiar with the idea of jewellery being more than just decoration, I find myself describing my jewellery as a 'vehicle for for social commentary' but what does this really mean? I subconsciously pass on my thoughts and beliefs into my research and consequently into my designs and final pieces. Jewellery is emotional and is socially connected with human life and culture, it is personal and portable, and it is this bodily contact that makes jewellery a perfect way to humanise social issues that affect us all. 

My work is a reflection of my personality, but it is also a reflection of my learning. I produce my own meanings by elaborating on pre-existing subjects that I agree with or find inspiring, making a constant regeneration of ideas and opinions.

Pioneer of contemporary jewellery, Ted Noten's jewellery is not about beauty, it's about a message and a connection between the wearer and the ornament, "I make jewellery that takes some time getting used to. When you wear it, you make yourself vulnerable as it makes such a striking statement. I speak out through my jewellery and objects. I comment upon jewellery as a phenomenon, upon the industry or - like any artist - upon humanity". 

Jewellery has the undeniable ability to reflect the beliefs and personalities of both the maker and the wearer, and it is this fact that I am becoming increasingly interested in. I want to explore the connection the jeweller may have with the wearer, and the importance of jewellery to be left in a state where personal stories can be imparted onto it....