Music, Style & Culture

Spotlight On: Catherine Chester

Catherine Chester looks set to take the jewellery world by storm.

If your idea of contemporary jewellery is synonymous with Fimo, acrylic moustache shapes, and cheap silver-plated necklaces, you obviously haven’t seen Catherine Chester’s work…

The basics: Conceptual jewellery designer, Catherine Chester, 23, graduated from the Manchester School of Art with a first class honours degree in Three Dimensional Design. Since then she has set up her own studio, curated and organised several exhibitions, and looks set to take the jewellery world by storm.

What inspired you to get into jewellery design?
It was looking at the human body and motion. I am obsessed with the early motion pictures by Eadweard Muybridge and fine artists such as Edgar Degas and Francis Bacon who all represent the body and its movements in their work. In my work I try to capture an element of the body and bring it back to its original source and display it on the body. I like surprising people with my work and when I use nude imagery in my pieces I like to encourage them to re-evaluate how they see the human form, how it should be displayed and interacted with.

What’s been your greatest success/thing you’re most proud of to date?
A curator for the Manchester Art Gallery asked me if I could put together a collection for permanent display for their gallery shop. Manchester Art Gallery is somewhere that holds a lot of memories for me – right through from childhood to university. So, it is truly an honor to now have my work on display just down the corridor from my favourite Bacon painting.

What helps motivate you?
I share my studio with two other contemporary jewellers and our studio is in an old mill that has been converted in to hundreds of studios. We always leave the door open so we can see everyone coming and going. Being surrounded by so many other artists working on projects from every different sector in the arts world (from fashion to photography; sculpture to film & music production), means that you get a constant creative vibe. I never feel de-motivated at AWOL studios, there’s too much going on!

What’s the most difficult thing about doing what you do?
Working with machinery - particularly my blowtorch. We have a lot of arguments, the blowtorch and I, and the blowtorch usually comes out looking better than I do. Silver-smithing is rather tricky and intricate to do especially with plasters all over my fingers! I have the hands of a 60-year-old mechanic; covered in calluses and cuts. People generalise jewellery making as a woman’s trade, but it’s really physically challenging at times.

Who’s on your radar when it comes to new design talent?
A ceramic designer called Jill Shaddock. She makes the most incredible slip-cast sushi sets that I’m obsessed with. If I could choose any young designer to excel in their career, I would love it to be her.

Where can people buy Catherine Chester Jewellery?
My work is constantly on tour in temporary exhibitions (RBSA, and the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester for the next few months) – it’s hard keeping track of where it is! I have galleries in Manchester (Franny & Filer, Manchester Craft & Design Centre, Manchester Art Gallery) and in Bristol (Diana Porter) that stock my work permanently. My favourite way of selling is if people contact me through my website, everything is for sale online and I love receiving personal commissions - that way I get to know my clients personally and see who my market is.

To find out more about Catherine Chester and her work, check out http://www.catherinechester.co.uk.