Background:

Catherine was raised and educated in Derbyshire before moving north to attend the Manchester School of Art. Having flirted with the idea of studying Psychology elsewhere, she enrolled on the Three Dimensional Design course where she gradually gravitated towards silversmithing and jewellery design. However, Psychology was never far from her thoughts as she honed her practical skills.

Catherine completed her initial three-year undergraduate studies with a First Class honours degree and the Wentworth Graduate Award. She finished her time in higher education with a one-year course in Creative Business Development (a BDes). Since, choosing to pursue conceptual jewellery, Catherine has curated and organised several exhibitions and set up her own studio. She currently works out of her studio space, creating and exhibiting her work around the country.

Work:

Catherine's recent pieces have emphasised an eclectic range of themes and influences. Her approach to creating new work owes as much to the academic as it does to the aesthetic. Pieces will frequently evoke themes from psychology and fine art whilst retaining basic formal appeal.

One important concept that has shaped Catherine's work is Freud's psychosexual theory, particularly the idea of the fetish. The idea that sexual desire can be displaced onto alternative objects or body parts has provided Catherine with a wealth of material with which to create bold yet appealing Jewellery. Additionally, Catherine will borrow stylistically from vintage photography and motion footage. Some pieces use naive, early erotica or reference Eadweard Muybridge's efforts to capture the human form in motion. Often pieces will incorporate repetition to evoke fluidity and action.

Catherine has built a visual language of sexual signifiers into works that remind us of shapes and rituals gone by. Whether it's a body pose from an impressionist painter or a model in a Victorian peep show, Catherine marries modern desire with classic forms. In doing so, she acknowledges some of jewellery's most basic functions. Not least, to supplement and communicate the wearers' desires and self-image.