Emily Kidson

jewellery

Emily in her studio

About

Emily Kidson is a contemporary jeweller whose layered, intuitively designed jewels marry bold materials with traditional craftsmanship. Silver, gold, wood, inlay and hand painted details feature in her work alongside the boldly coloured laminate work she has become known for.

Emily makes every shape and component by hand, and each piece is the culmination of an immersive creative process. Old industrial cities and canal sides are particular influences, from tapered chimneys to barges and water towers. Sensitive use of colour is central to the designs and her eye for detail informs the minimal, subtly layered aesthetic of her work.

After graduating from the University of Brighton with a degree in Three Dimensional Crafts, Emily spent a year at the prestigious Bishopsland Educational Trust. She took a diversion and became an art librarian before returning to making 10 years later. Since then she has exhibited widely across the UK and increasingly internationally.

“I love areas of fine detail but also the clear uncluttered spaces around them. I make work which strives to find a balance between the two.”

Emily Kidson

Process

Emily cuts the wood and laminate to manageable sizes, glues them together with an epoxy glue, leaves them to dry overnight and then hand cuts it into her signature shapes with a jewellers piercing saw. Each piece is made and finished by hand. Emily uses traditional jewellery and silversmithing techniques when working with precious metals. Starting as sheet, wire or tube, it is pierced, inlaid, textured, soldered, formed and oxidised. The findings (ear wires/hooks etc.) are all handmade.

Services

  • commissions

Maker stories