Claire Sandham of Reverie Designs & Ministry of Memories talks about why she began making jewellery, her inspiration, processes & designs and working with fellow artist
Sharon Boonzaier.
Tell us a bit about your brands and designs
Reverie Designs is my
brand and Ministry of Memories is a collaboration brand
between
Sharon Boonzaier and myself. Reverie has several different designs
which are mostly inspired by organic shapes. I try to create my pieces so
the shape of the piece is open to interpretation. Memories are
changeable and mean different things to different people, I hope my
designs do the same.
Why did you start making your products?
Reverie Designs was born out of a desire to preserve memory and moments. Each piece encapsulates an experience, which, superfluous in word alone, comes alive on the wearer’s body. Memories are snapshots in our individual histories, lost as easily as they are born, but the Reverie Brand strives to create enduring reminders of who we are, where we’ve come from, and which stories we’d like to keep and share.
The aim of Ministry of Memories is to create illustrations (inspired by our past) that can be worn as jewellery. I have always been inspired by
Sharon's work, in fact three of her artworks hang in my room. We collaborated to create unique pieces documenting our roots and fond memories. Each piece starts with an original artwork by Sharon which I then translate into a jewellery piece.
How are your products made?
Each design requires a different process to manufacture but we do not use laser cutting at all. All of our pieces are designed in studio and then manufactured or assembled by hand.
What is your favourite part of the process?
Seeing a design go from a sketch on paper to a functional, wearable piece of jewellery. I never get tired of looking at the finished product and thinking "only a few days ago this was only a concept now it is something that I can hold and wear."
Do you have an interesting tidbit for us?
I will always remember the feeling of completing my first piece of jewellery. I looked at the piece and thought, this started as granules of raw metal. I looked at my hands and could almost not believe they had made the piece. I have kept that piece and it reminds me daily to never loose sight of why I am a designer and why I manufacture.
Find Reverie Designs & Ministry of Memories at KIN at V&A
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