Artist statement

I am a jewelry artist with a background in fashion and product design, for the last six years I have worked primarily in goldsmithing and metal casting. My approach is often rooted in process: I recently used wax as a thinking material, both to sculpt and to explore techniques such as imprinting, as a way of recording encounters with objects, surfaces, and textures. I love how crafting allows experimentation and play, letting ideas evolve and transform in unhurried ways that often lead to unexpected avenues.

I’ve always loved creating things with my hands. I dedicated nearly a decade to fashion - drawing, constructing, and crafting clothing - before opening a concept store where I curated and sold items I personally enjoyed, including glassware, ceramics, and jewelry. Eventually, I missed the act of making itself and returned to hands-on creation, focusing on jewelry.

In my current work, I create wax models by taking impressions of banal domestic objects and natural surfaces, allowing the process itself to shape the final form. These models may later be cast into metal, becoming jewelry or small sculptural objects such as bells or vessels.

I am also fascinated by antiquity, and by objects and jewelry that carry history. This interest informs the forms, surfaces, and textures I explore in my work.

I am particularly inspired by Japanese craft traditions and the careful attention given to materials, form, and detail. I look forward to responding to the landscapes, local materials, and cultural heritage of Itoshima, exploring how place and tradition can inform both process and finished work during the residency at Studio Kura.


Project Proposal: Trace and Translation

During a residency at Studio Kura, I would like to research and develop new work through a continuation of my process-based practice, responding specifically to the natural and cultural environment of Itoshima and its surroundings.

My focus would be on collecting visual and tactile impressions from everyday life and from nature - such as found objects, textures, tools, or architectural surfaces - and translating these into wax models through imprinting and direct manipulation. Wax works for me as both sketch and archive: it captures fragile details that can later be transformed into metal through casting.

While the resulting objects may take the form of jewelry, I am equally interested in allowing the work to expand into small vessels or metal objects between function and sculpture. The emphasis of the residency would be on research, experimentation, and material exploration, and possibly producing a small series of finished pieces.

I am particularly drawn to Japanese culture’s sensitivity to material, surface, and subtle detail, and I see this residency as an opportunity to reflect on how these values might influence my own process. I would welcome the possibility of collaborating with a local foundry for casting, if possible, while keeping wax modeling and sketching as the core of my daily studio practice.

Alongside focused working time, I would be happy to offer a small workshop - such as wax modeling or working with liquid wax for form-making - sharing my process with other artists or members of the local community.