elizabeth shaw   jewellery objects
  • Home
  • jewellery and objects
    • Charred Koala - hanging on 2022
    • Radical Localism 2022
    • SHAW & SHAW 2021
    • Precious Places 2020
    • Pincer Grip 2019
    • Hand-Saw-Horse 2019
    • Urban Origins 2019
    • Rotary Wheel Rings 2018
    • Debra Porch and Friends 2018
    • Recycled Narratives 2018
    • Nail Heads 2017 - 2018
    • Mortar Heads 2017
    • Rescued Pets 2017
    • Visions Exhibition 2017
    • Rings for Mary Shelley 2016
    • Yang 杨 + Shaw 肖 2015-2016
    • The Contemporary Jewelry Exchange 2015-2016
    • Sleight of Hand 2015
    • Why Jewellery? 2015
    • Greensmith 2014+2016
    • Icons 2014
    • Tool 2011 & 2012
    • Inundation 2011
    • Evidence 2010
    • The Miniature Museum 2009
  • studio
  • bio
  • contact
  • blog

Post Flux - Fair Luxury

30/4/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureThe Flux organising team: David Crump, Anna Barker, Jane Barnett, Anna Loucah, Rachel Sweeney, Amanda Li Hope, Gary Seneviratne, Stuart Pool and Olivia Lyster.
I was fortunate to be able to both attend and participate in the one day conference Flux - Fair Luxury held at the Goldsmiths' Centre London on 19 April 2016. ​I was so impressed that the conference sold out in 2 weeks and had a waiting list of 30 people! The keen interest hopefully allayed any fears the organisers may have had about the importance of the event. 

This was the inaugural conference organised by the Flux team and it was very well received. The enthusiasm and sense of optimism at the event was palpable. The hard work and ambitions of the Flux team saw their idea for the conference become a reality. I suspect it all moved too fast for each of them to fully appreciate their achievements. The day covered lots of different approaches and ideas towards improving the environmental and ethical standards of the jewellery industry.

Orsola de Castro, Co Founder of the Fashion Revolution Day talked about her evolution into a Fair Fashion activist with enthusiasm and drive. Her approach was accessible and based on the discussion that ensued, quite possibly (hopefully) infectious. 

Lina Villa, Executive Director of Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) talked about the origins of ARM and how she and the alliance had been developing and changing.

Interestingly the idea of a journey was used by several speakers and I think that allowed for the room for all to understand that there wasn't an absolute we are all aiming for at this moment. It is very much a journey.

When I started my practice in the early 1990s producing jewellery and tableware in small scale production my aim was to be environmentally friendly. I used a lot of metal retrieved from waste. I used cardboard unbleached packaging that could be recycled or would biodegrade. This was in part because I had a strong dislike for flocked plastic jewellery boxes and bags. My clients at the time were never as excited about my unbleached packaging as I thought they should/would be. 

It was around 2000 when I was rethinking my practice undertaking masters research that I started to think about other aspects of my studio practice, the chemicals I used for example and the stones I was using. I started to think that stones being natural was not enough, I needed to know where they had come from and how they were sourced. It has definitely been a journey for me in terms of understanding my priorities and reconsidering all aspects of my studio practices. This is an ongoing process.
Greg Valerio MBE presenting at Flux
Ute Decker presenting at Flux
The conference had two sessions of same timed workshops. In the first session I went to one focussed on Green Jewellery Workshop Practices and Sourcing led by Greg Valerio MBE and Ute Decker.

Greg is a very passionate presenter, I'd last seen him speak at a conference organised by Ethical Metalsmiths in association with their Radical Jewelry Makeover at Alburquerque in 2011. He talked about work he had been undertaking with gold miners in Uganda to make their mining practices safer and more efficient. It was inspiring to hear how a small amount of money from our perspective could purchase simple, yet significant equipment that increases the amount of gold retrieved and significantly reduces the time time involved in processing: 1 day of manual work reduced to 2 hours of mechanised work!

Ute talked about ways to green studio practices, from choices of materials through to chemicals and printing. Her talk was a well placed to follow Greg's. It was great to hear how Ute has been approaching this in her own studio and to meet her face to face for the first time. She too was a lively and enthusiastic presenter.
Picture
Samantha Rose, Peter Crump and Elizabeth Shaw presenting at Flux. Image courtesy of Michelle Chaboudy
In the second session of workshops I was involved with leading one with Peter Crump from Vipa Designs and Samantha Rose from September Rose.
​We covered:
What are the challenges of responsible sourcing from the perspective of:
·        education, (working with new students)
·        manufacturing, (working with designers looking to upscale their business to sustainable level)
·        designer-maker, (working through the practical issues of responsible sourcing)
Peter, Samantha and had been in contact with me by email, it was great to meet them face to face on the day. I think we were well selected to present together. Our approaches were complementary and we received some great questions.

I hope this will be just the start of our conversation. ​
0 Comments

    Author

    these are occasional posts about the things that are inspiring me, or that are happening around.

    Archives

    August 2022
    January 2022
    May 2021
    September 2020
    November 2018
    January 2018
    June 2017
    May 2017
    December 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    Art Bracelets
    Art Jewellery
    Art Jewelry
    Asia Pacific
    Australian Jewellery
    Australian Landscape
    Australia Short Course Awards
    Blindside
    Book
    Brisbane Jewellery
    Cassandra Lehman
    Catherine Large
    Clare Poppi
    Contemporary Jewellery
    Contemporary Jewelry
    Curator
    Earrings
    Elizabethshaw
    Elizabeth Shaw
    Ethical Jewellery
    Ethical Metalsmiths
    Exhibition
    Flux Fair Luxury
    Garland
    Glasshouse Port Macquarie
    Grafton Regional Gallery
    Greg Valerio
    Helen Wyatt
    Hong Kong Jewellery
    Indonesia
    Indonesian Jewellery
    Inhabiting Space
    Jewellery
    Kristina Gittins
    Larissa Waters Stop Adani Earrings
    Lina Villa
    Lizshaw
    Maddison Bygrave
    Mchelle Obama's Necklace
    Mia Wells
    Nellie Peoples
    New Bracelets
    Nick Ashby
    Nick Ashby Art
    Niomi Sands
    Objects
    Orsola De Castro
    Oven Mitt
    Peter Crump
    Political Jewellery
    Radical Jewelry Makeover
    Radical Localism
    Rebecca Ward
    Recycled
    Recycled Narratives
    Redlands Art Gallery
    Reuse
    Ring
    Samantha Rose
    Sculptural Ring
    Sense Of Place
    September Rose
    Shaw
    Silver Earrings
    Skulls
    Soap Collective
    Suffragette Jewellery
    Ute Decker
    Vipa Designs
    Why Jewellery

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • jewellery and objects
    • Charred Koala - hanging on 2022
    • Radical Localism 2022
    • SHAW & SHAW 2021
    • Precious Places 2020
    • Pincer Grip 2019
    • Hand-Saw-Horse 2019
    • Urban Origins 2019
    • Rotary Wheel Rings 2018
    • Debra Porch and Friends 2018
    • Recycled Narratives 2018
    • Nail Heads 2017 - 2018
    • Mortar Heads 2017
    • Rescued Pets 2017
    • Visions Exhibition 2017
    • Rings for Mary Shelley 2016
    • Yang 杨 + Shaw 肖 2015-2016
    • The Contemporary Jewelry Exchange 2015-2016
    • Sleight of Hand 2015
    • Why Jewellery? 2015
    • Greensmith 2014+2016
    • Icons 2014
    • Tool 2011 & 2012
    • Inundation 2011
    • Evidence 2010
    • The Miniature Museum 2009
  • studio
  • bio
  • contact
  • blog