Meet our Future Makers 2018: Hayley Grafflin

Written by Alicia Eccleston.

 

In support of new, emerging talent, each year our resident makers hand pick promising ‘Future Makers’ to showcase their work here at Manchester Craft & Design Centre. These new designers are either currently studying, recent graduates or newly emerging and this opportunity will bring their beautiful work into the spotlight. This year we have a total of seven Future Makers, all with their own unique craft, working with different processes and materials.

Hayley Grafflin is one of our talented Future Makers this year, her work has been chosen by resident maker Eve Redmond based at Manchester Craft & Design Centre in Studio 22. Hayley graduated from Sheffield Hallam University where she studied Jewellery and Metalwork. The collection she will be exhibiting at the Centre is called ‘Moments (of Control)’, it is a highly tactile collection of jewellery which communicates the hidden beauty and gritty details within urban landscapes. Working intuitively with materials, Hayley creates through a series of moments and gestures, using traditional jewellery techniques to capture and control these moments.

 

Image Credit: Hayley Grafflin

 

Image Credit: Hayley Grafflin

 

Here at the Centre, our visitors love to see our resident makers busy making in their studios, the preparation behind making their bespoke work is extremely important and often very time-consuming. We asked Hayley if she could send us some images of her documentation work:

“The first image is of some primary and material research, with some brooches I made whilst at university which I have on my studio wall. The second photograph is of a photo-montage, which is how I often design, using found images and photocopies of my models and experiments.” – Hayley Grafflin

 

Image Credit: Hayley Grafflin

 

Image Credit: Hayley Grafflin

 

 

We asked Hayley a few questions so we can get to know more about her and her way of making:

 

1.) So Hayley, out of hundreds of 2017 graduates and emerging talent you have been selected by us. How do you feel about being chosen for Future Makers 2018?

In my opinion, the level of talent from the jewellery graduates has been particularly strong this year and so I feel very honored to have been selected for Future Makers 2018! The Craft and Design Centre in Manchester is such a great space and I’m really excited to be a part of it!

 2.) What are the things that have inspired, and continue to inspire, your work?

I am constantly falling in love with the surfaces, textures and colours within urban environments (I can’t walk past a weathered door without taking a photograph!). My work is a personal narrative of this love affair, which I express intuitively through material and composition experimentation.

 3.) Is there any advice you would give to artists and makers who are starting out?

I would say that it’s very important to have belief in what you are doing, don’t compare yourself to others and try to not hold yourself back! Throw yourself into all of the opportunities that present themselves to you, however, it’s also so important to give yourself the time to take a step back and evaluate and reflect upon your experiences and think about what you want for the future, as the year after graduation is crazy!

 4.) What is your dream project?

I plan to mainly work by myself and to let the work naturally progress so I wouldn’t say I have a ‘dream project’ as such, but for my dissertation I started to research how texture effects colour theory (more interesting than it sounds!). At some point I’d like to do a masters to delve into this further, so I guess either that or to be able to make something for Bjork who is such an incredible inspiration!

 

You can see Hayley’s interesting work on display here at MCDC in Studio 22 as part of our Future Makers 2018 Exhibition. Click here to find out more about this fantastic exhibition.

Instagram: @hayleygrafflinjewellery