I'll be creating a collection of ten pieces of jewellery based on my (autistic) sensory responses to Welsh words. A project culminating in an exhibition at Oriel Bevan Jones Gallery in Jan 2021. An online gallery of the finished collection will be uploaded here on January 25th.  A short film will accompany it as soon as covid restrictions allow.

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Each piece will be based on my initial sensory response to learning a new word in Welsh. The project started taking shape in July 2020.  I associate shapes with sounds, so when I started listening to new Welsh words, I associated shapes with them. I wondered what these shapes would like if translated into jewellery. That was the seed. 

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I know, both as an autistic person, and as 'me', that I find it hard sometimes to go outside my comfort zone and explore materials and structure freely. With this in mind, the collection will not be made with a view to looking cohesive.  Given the varied input used for each piece.  I will be experimenting with what best fits each item both as a visual representation to how the word 'feels' to me, and to how the piece creates sensory input to the wearer itself. 

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I'll be keeping a blog, along with video and written diaries, notes and sketches.  I'll be asking for input along the way, and hope you'll enjoy seeing the process. There was a rather lovely piece mentioning the project in Jewellery Focus magazine, which you can view here. 

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For progress, please visit the blog below  Diolch yn fawr! 

 

The project has been made possible by funding from Arts Council of Wales and The National Lottery.