A Fantastical Array of Art Jewellery Selected From Around the Globe
12th July - 30th Sept 2012
Also featuring: FLOURISHRING - Celebrating Sixteen Years at Salts Mill

FLOURISH

Art Jewellery Selected from Around the Globe

Things are flourishing in the jewellery garden ….giant porcelain cabbage necklaces, cut glass ‘Wine Leaf’ brooches, overblown bright blue enamel blossom jewels…

With an international reputation for showcasing the best in radical contemporary jewellery, Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery, based at Salts Mill since 1996, marks her sixteenth birthday with flair! Flourish exhibits a fantastical array of art jewellery selected from around the globe.

From Dutch artist Nina Sajet’s surreal transformation of cabbages and sprouts into fine porcelain neckpieces, to South Korean Seulgi Kwon’s marvellous delicately tinted intricate silicone organisms that come to life when touched and worn. Textile inspired Francisca Bauza from Germany and Mallorca presents vibrant enamelled floral necklaces whose folds in metal and crimped edges mimic material; Yu-Ping Lin from Taiwan creates playful Origami inspired textile brooches that mutate into bracelets and back again - like jewellery ‘Transformers’- they can be worn in a myriad of different ways!

Additionally 100 international jewellers involved with the gallery over the last sixteen years have been invited to each enter an exuberant celebratory ring into a flamboyant competition called FlourishRing! Visitors to the gallery will be able to vote for their favourite by trying it on and being photographed modelling it. These photos will then become part of a growing installation on the walls of the gallery. The FlourishRing that gets the most public votes during the exhibition will win £250.

The gallery has represented a host of fantastic jewellers over the years including many renowned award winning UK and international art jewellers for instance Jacqueline Mina, OBE who is a Jerwood Prize winner, Georg Dobler twice winner of the Herbert Hoffman Prize – the most prestigious international art jewellery award, Adam Paxon – winner of the Jerwood Prize and the Herbert Hoffman prize and Malcolm Morris who created the tiaras worn by Gwyneth Paltrow in ‘Shakespeare in Love’.

Kath Libbert, the gallery's founder and curator says: ‘’We are honoured that these celebrities of the jewellery world are all going to be taking part in FlourishRing along with many new creative talents. I can’t wait to see what they each come up with!!”

Artists taking part in FLOURISH are: Akiko Kurihara, Germany/Japan; Seulgi Kwon, South Korea; Mari Iwamoto, Japan; Katja Schlegel, Germany; Nina Sajet, the Netherlands; Francisca Bauzá, Germany/Mallorca; Märta Mattsson, Sweden; Réka Fekete, the Netherlands/Hungary; Yu-Ping Lin, UK/Taiwan. Additionally 100 International jewellers who have exhibited with the Gallery of the past 16 years at Salts Mill will be taking part in FlourishRing an exuberant celebratory competition, the winner to be decided by public vote.