UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 13 JULY 2017
BA (Hons) Jewellery and Silversmithing – Design For Industry student Yi Feng is celebrating after gaining national recognition as part of New Designers in London.
Every year the Goldsmiths’ Centre talent spots up and coming designer-makers who are exhibiting as part of New Designers. This year the Goldsmith judges have selected 10 individuals who demonstrate particular talent and skill within Jewellery and Contemporary Design, recognizing their rising star potential.
Yi creates handcrafted luxurious contemporary jewellery using a traditional Japanese metalworking procedure called Mokume-gane. The procedure produces a mixed-metal laminate with distinctive layered patterns. The phrase broadly translates to “wood grain metal” or “wood eye metal”, describing the way the metal takes on the appearance of natural wood grain.
Mokume-gane is a product made by fusing several layers of different coloured precious metals together to form a sandwich of alloys called a billet. The billet is then manipulated in such a way that a pattern resembling wood grain emerges from the surface. Yi’s designs are created through traditional methods, using heat and pressure. It doesn’t rely on soldering to hold it all together.
“I want to introduce Mokume-gane to people, so exhibiting at New Designers has given me a great opportunity to do this. I’m really enjoying it” Yi said afterwards.
“Receiving this award is really important. It encourages me to continue with my work. I’m planning on staying in the UK as I definitely see the potential for marketing this technique to a wider audience.”