Emma McGilchrist was born in the UK and grew up in the countryside before moving to London where she studied Fine Art Textiles at Goldsmiths University. It was here that she began working with themes of relationship, making sculptural objects which formed the basis of larger scale installations.

From the collection: Dust. Workshop dust from previous pieces, gathered, melted & re-formed into moving leaves that ripple when worn. What once was there reborn.

From the collection: Women’s Words. ‘BAR’ holds layers of meaning. The zero pins move, like reconfiguring voices, within the confining bar structure of the brooch.

Following her degree she shifted her medium to metal. Attending jewellery making courses at night school to learn metal working techniques. She then developed her skills collaboratively during a four year period of sharing a workshop at Flux Studios in Camberwell, London.

As her practice has grown she has begun to return to earlier themes & now works from her own studio making objects which are to be worn, handled & displayed.

Emma has exhibited in various group shows, currently with Association for Contemporary Jewellery’s 25th Anniversary touring exhibition ‘Meanings & Messages’ & is taking part in this year’s Milan Jewellery Week.

BUY EMMA’S WORK HERE

My making process begins with ideas. Often themes come together in threads of words, theories, visual cues, such as the way the light passes across a surface, or the materials I have to hand in the workshop. I then set about to make these visible.

I construct my pieces, cutting or raising from flat metal sheet, making simple forms which I then elaborate with detailed moving elements such as the ‘zero’, leaf or ‘moss’ pins.

I believe that objects hold the memory of their making, the imprint of each process & intention leaves a mark which create layers of meaning & so it is important to me that these remain visible in my work.

I seek to make pieces that are beings in their own right. As still lives they sit, as if sleeping, waiting for a touch, a wearer, to bring them to life. All the pieces are made also to be worn & function as wearable jewellery thereby exploring the interaction between body, object & gesture.

I make limited editions & one off individual pieces that build together in commonly themed collections. My current work looks at the complexity of language used to identify & position women in society.