The Jerwood Applied Arts Prize 2007: Jewellery exhibition is reviewed on behalf of craftscotland by Caroline Ednie.

The Jerwood Prize, which celebrates innovation, commitment and excellence within the applied arts – and which boasts an impressive £30,000 award to boot - is undoubtedly the daddy of the UK’s applied arts prizes.  This makes the presence of two Scots based artists in the shortlist of six particularly prescient, and provides something of a ringing endorsement for the rude health of Scotland’s current craft culture. 

This year’s featured artists were chosen on the basis of their significant contribution to jewellery over the past six year - the unique prize runs over a six-year cycle, with each year representing a different medium within the applied arts field: metal, textiles, ceramics, glass, furniture as well as jewellery.  And what a range of riches are on offer in this exquisite exhibition, featuring at the NMS – in one of the best temporary exhibition spaces in the country - until March 2008.

Joint prize winners, Edinburgh based Susan Cross and Cumbrian artist Adam Paxon, emphatically exemplify the diversity of the work on show: Cross’s work is akin to jewellery on a precision engineering level, whereas Paxton’s plastic pieces have the free-form feel of an abstract expressionist canvas.  Cross admits that her creations are “contained explosions of colour and jewel like elements suspended among apparently random strands” and as such they embody elements of order and surprise in the same way that an architectural gem in microcosm might do.  But there is no sense of “contained explosions” in Paxon’s work, quite the reverse, for in pieces such as the ‘Orgasmaplode’ and his 2007 ‘Untitled’ range, the explosions in colour and form feel un-contained and almost hallucinatory – a bit like an edgy Alice through the Looking Glass in acrylic.

There is a similar inner-child-like quality to Edinburgh based Grainne Morton’s silver brooches.  Yet these “illustrations of (the artist’s) fairytale environment”, which feature a variety of antique and vintage found objects, are on an altogether more intimate level.  The fun factor is still there though, as these miniature scenes – the most recent of which were inspired by American Christmas decorations that the artist purchased on ebay – are displayed as little fantasy and fanciful landscapes, not unlike the ‘Teletubbies’ hillock home.

A fascination with real as opposed to imagined nature is at the heart of Nora Fok’s creations which involve the most delicate formal depictions – in nylon - of the structure and essence of plants.  Or in the case of the extremely beautiful ‘Million Dollar Collar’ which is made from artichoke seed parachutes, and ‘Life Cycle’ neckpiece of honesty seed pods, Fok has cut to the chase and placed the plants themselves at the centre of the piece.  Nylon also features prominently in Yoko Izawa’s jewellery, although this time the man-made material has been juxtaposed with precious metals in a series of pieces that explore the notion of ambiguity.  The result is the enigmatic ‘Veiled Effect’ series where objects have been wrapped – the form suggested rather than stated - a bit like the architectural ‘wrappings’ of artist Christo on a micro scale.

A ‘what lies beneath’ ambiguity is also intrinsic to London based Mah Rana’s early works, particularly the ‘Out of the Dark’ series of mourning brooches where gold has been covered in various black pigments, only to be revealed as the grieving process gives way, thus signifying a new stage or the notion of a new dawn.  ‘Meaning and Attachments’, Rana’s most recent project which looks at the role of jewellery in peoples’ lives, is less ambiguous, yet it’s also more experimental and theoretical in its approach, embracing as it does written, audio and photographic records. 

But this is no less rewarding in the context of the current exhibition.  Indeed, in placing this fascinating insight into the question of why we wear jewellery at the end point of the show, it forms a fitting culminating chapter to this cutting-edge chronicle of contemporary craft.

The Jerwood Jewellery Prize might only come around once every six years, but like a blue moon, it’s worth waiting for. 

Jerwood Applied Arts Prize 2007: Jewellery is Crafts Council Touring Exhibition in partnership with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.  It is on from 12 October 2007 to 2 March 2008 at the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh.  Open daily 10am to 5pm.