Australian Jewellery Designer Emma Mckimmie's inspiration behind her label Curiously Obsessed explores her innate curiosity of the world and the unconditional intrigue of the beautiful and the unique. But beneath these influences is a rarely told narrative that is incredibly touching. For her first major jewellery assignment at university Emma placed her core focus in helping young children with dyslexia by observing the way they write on paper and how they tell their stories, with the objective of turning their individual work into beautiful jewellery pieces and the profits donated to the Australian Dyslexia Association. This assignment inspires her very first collection that reminisce of crinkled sweet wrapper foils at first sight, but the story behind the work makes it profoundly special.
Here I speak to Emma about what inspired her to become a jewellery designer, the influence of her first collection in greater detail and the creative and technical process of creating her designs.
1. What inspired you to become a jewellery designer?
Having always had a passion for design, my interest in working and thinking creatively came at a young age. Growing
up I always thought I would be a fashion designer, but my first taste
of jewellery design was when I went on a family cruise around the
Pacific Islands. They had a jewellery making class as one of their
onboard activities, so mum, my sister and I all went down to
participate. I made a pair of beaded earrings and thought the process
was so exciting. When we got home I started making my own jewellery. I
made a collection of earrings, bracelets and necklaces and showed them
to all my family. My Pa was my very first customer. He bought 3
necklaces for a lot more than what they were worth and I knew he would
definitely not be wearing them, but he saw something in me and wanted me
to pursue my dreams. I started making more pieces and began doing a few
little markets here and there with my mum.
When
school was coming to a finish it was time to choose my next adventure. I
knew that I still wanted to be a designer, but was undecided about what
field I wanted to specialise in. I studied a Bachelor of Design and in
my first year it gave me an insight into all areas of design from
interior, fashion, graphic and jewellery.
After my first
class in jewellery design I knew I found my passion. Working with my
hands and designing new pieces ingnited a fire in me. I found it to be
an escape and it didn’t feel like work. When uni finished I was making
jewellery pieces for myself before deciding to pursue it further. I
began making more pieces and in 2014 Curiously Obsessed was born.
2. You
majored in Jewellery and Graphics at University of New South Wales, how
did you combine the two together to create your pieces?
For
my major assessment at uni I had to create an integrated project that
combined both jewellery and graphics. The focus of my project was on
dyslexia and in particular those children who struggle with this
learning difficulty. It took a look into the symptoms experienced by
these children and how specialised teacher training courses can be
implemented to help these children have a better chance of learning how
to read, write and spell more successfully.
As
the final outcome was to help the children with dyslexia, I involved
them in the process of creating this project. A4 stories were written by
a group of primary school students with the youngest being 6. I was
interested in seeing the way they write and how they view type
differently. The stories were unedited and showed the symptoms people
with dyslexia experience.
The stories were
then manipulated in Photoshop, laser cut from paper, formed into rings
and using a specialised plating process coated with copper to create
jewellery pieces. The hope was that these pieces would then be sold with
the profits going towards the Australian Dyslexia Association where
they could train and qualify teachers in how to identify dyslexia and to
effectively teach individuals with dyslexia giving them a better chance
of overcoming this learning difficulty.
Paper
was used for the pieces, as it is a dominant material in reading,
writing and spelling. I left the pieces uncoated, and as they oxidised
they all had a different finish and a look of imperfection, which I felt
reflected the children’s stories. I wanted to express that even though
their writing and reading isn’t perfect their stories could be taken and
transformed into something beautiful.
The ideas and technique used in this project inspired my collection today.
3. What is the inspiration behind your collection?
My
collection is inspired by the beautiful and unique found in the every
day. It is about taking found objects and giving them another life.
4.
Describe the creative and technical stages of making your jewellery
collection. What is the hardest and most enjoyable part of the process?
I
find that my pieces come to me quite naturally. I don’t have a
preplanned finished result of what my pieces are going to look like and
instead they develop and evolve during the making process.
The
most enjoyable part of the process is seeing the found objects (often
things that are going to be thrown away like paper and foil)
transforming into something beautiful and wearable.
The
pieces are all created using a specialised technique to apply a layer
of metal over the found objects. The experimentation and time put into
finding the perfect technique was probably the hardest part of the
process.
5. Do you have a piece/s from your collection you wear all the time?
I
love all the rings I make and want to keep them all! Obviously I can’t
so I have to be strict on myself and only keep a handful. I have a small
rectangular copper ring that rarely leaves my finger and then on the
weekends I generally wear my larger rings. I have a large copper piece
made from foil and a 24k gold stick piece that I alternate between.
I’m in the process of working on earrings to add to the collection so I’m sure I’ll be keeping a lot of those too!
6. How do you relax when you're not making jewellery?
Jewellery
making is actually quite relaxing for me. I also run my own letterpress
studio so when I have spare time to relax I find myself making
jewellery.
When I’m not working on either I love to be out on the water whether that be paddle boarding, waterskiing or wake boarding.
7. What is your favourite social media platform? How do you utilise it to your advantage?
I’m
a big fan of instagram! It’s such a visual platform which is perfect
for my jewellery pieces. It makes is easy to connect and interact with
followers and other creatives within the industry.
8. Describe the person wearing your collection.
The person wearing my collection is someone who likes to do things a little differently than most.
9. Is there a jewellery designer or influential public figure you look up to the most?
I admire the work of Swedish contemporary jewellery and object designer Hanna Hedman. She uses beauty to seize the viewers
attention, but her pieces are not just simply jewels. Behind the attractive facade they are a symbolic representation of our feelings and our inner emotional fights.
Her
sculptural pieces, composed by thin layered metal sheets, are both delicate
and strong. Hedman develops each piece
organically and with limited predefined planning. All the fragments are created
individually and then combined in a similar way as stories develop over time.
10. Is there a brand or person you would love to collaborate with?
I
would love to do a collaboration with sass and bide. Their label is
‘dedicated to the strong, the obscure and the beautiful’ and I feel that
these are qualities that my label also possesses. I admire Sarah-Jane
and Heidi’s story and drive to establish their brand to what it is
today. I am a big fan of local design and to work with another
Australian designer would be a dream.
11. 5 words to describe your jewellery.
Handmade, unique, one of a kind (that counts as one right!), beautiful and bold.
