Recycle

Domestic Waste Plastic

Figure 1 - Sieber-Fuchs. V, 2012. Garlic Collar Neckpiece, Garlic peel

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into reusable objects. This can be applied in jewellery as a creative method of making non-precious contemporary jewellery. The method of recycling waste into jewellery has helped a lot of art-jewellers like Verena Sieber-Fuchs to be able to upcycle or manipulate all forms of domestic waste, from plastic sweet wrappers to garlic peel and film strip to form jewellery as seen in figure 1.

Figure 2 - Sieber-Fuchs. V. 2018, Eierkarton Neckpiece. Cardboard

Figure 3 - Sieber-Fuchs. V. 2018, CH-stamps (flowers), Iron wire and film strip

The interesting area of her work as seen in figure 2 and 3, shows how she uses the characteristics of dimension and proportion to build up the repetition, pattern, and texture. These characteristics can also be applied to my recycling research by using some of her methods, through the process of melting domestic waste plastic, such as ABS and HDPE plastic for jewellery pieces. 

Precious Materials

Figure 1- Hanevold. I. 2009. Bracelet, Silver (oxidising, and scratching) 

 Precious materials are considered to be rare and natural like gold, silver, platinum and diamonds. These materials have played a bigger role in the jewellery industry as an investment status on expensive materials, that holds a high economic value in contemporary jewellery and art-jewellery.

The history of gold and silver has been co-existing for years in jewellery manufacturing through precious materials, we still find goldsmith like Ingjerd Hanevold, who creates jewellery that is made from silver, which was darkened through oxidising, scratching and heavily brushing the surface. Her work has inspired me to focus on how to construct a bent sheet of silver with invisible joins of pins and soldering. Her jewellery work has great elements on repetition as seen in figure 1,which is what I am looking forward to do on my research.

Non-precious materials

Figure 1 - Murphy. K. 2001. Bangles. Resin (blue and green), Fabric and Foil

Non-precious materials can be chartered as cheap materials or non-precious, due to the long history of precious jewellery in the western world, traditional materials were combined with the perceived intrinsic value. The rise of art- jewellery with non-precious materials has changed the innovation of jewellery, as well as materials such as recycling materials, refractory metal and changes in education. These changes have adopted a new personal concept for art-jewellers, as they are able to express their own creativity in contemporary art-jewellery.

Non-precious materials have paved the way for Kathie Murphy, who is using plastic resin for her art-jewellery as a way of making art-jewellery cheaper, richer with colour and patterns as seen in figure 1. Kathie's art-jewellery has inspired me, to use her techniques on my art-jewellery work by applying a clear resin material to create decorative transparency on my jewellery pieces.

Mixed Materials

Figure 1 - Beppe. 2009. slowly brooch. brass, lime wood, color, 8 x 6 x 4 cm / 30 g  

Mixed Materials are two or more forms of elements that are physically combined together to create or form a material that can be made as a precious or non-precious material.

The French were the leading makers of manipulating non-precious pearl imitation during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many of the art-jewellery in Virtual Gallery of Contemporary Jewellery are using precious and non-precious materials to motivate the creation of contemporary jewellery to be more like traditional values of mixed materials as seen in Kesslers’ jewellery brooches in figure 1.

I want to present my art-jewellery like Kessler, she is using feelings and thoughts for expressing her life by combining old and new contemporary materials to describe her art-jewellery work. If I could use this method for my art-jewellery, which will have mix material jewellery that has 80% of plastic, it will help the society to understand my feelings and thoughts about recycling plastic materials as a way of creating awareness.

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Value of jewellery

Figure 1 - Rings. Resin and Gold flakes

Today, high precious jewellery pieces are not made to be worn like everyday wear jewellery, according to the Virtual Gallery of Contemporary Jewellery states that "since the true nature of latter is more clearly revealed than has usually been the case before, it could be argued that the role of the precious as an enhancer of value is greater than ever", but the economic recession which has affected the impacts of luxury lifestyle and investment. Non-materials jewellery has become the new trend of value of jewellery in the 21st century as seen in figure 1.