This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Written by Sophie Holt.
In support of new, emerging talent, each year our resident makers hand pick promising ‘Future Makers’ to showcase their work here at Manchester Craft and 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.
Kitty Jones, a recent graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University School of Art, is one of our talented young makers selected to feature her work within the Future Makers 2018 exhibition. Her innovative jewellery pieces were selected by our Resident Makers in Studio 1: Amy Wilkinson, Charlotte Verity and Laura Richardson. Kitty’s work is inspired by the positive impact of childhood comfort objects and how this concept can be transferred into adulthood. In her own words her research confirmed that even as adults ‘we still experience strange and unusual situations day after day where nerves and anxiety can be controlled by objects of comfort’. Her collection of jewellery entitled MOTION sets out to provide this comfort through interaction, touch and movement. The beautiful pieces are incredibly effective and explore complex ideas within a sleek and sophisticated form.
Image Credit: Kitty Jones
Image Credit: Kitty Jones
Image Credit: Kitty Jones
We interviewed Kitty to find out more about her and her work:
1.) Kitty, 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?
I feel absolutely over the moon to have been selected for Future Makers 2018! I feel proud to have my work recognised by Studio 1 and honoured to be exhibiting in the Craft & Design Centre, somewhere that I visited frequently as a student for inspiration and enjoyment. MOTION is a project that is very close to my heart and that I have a lot of passion for so I am thrilled to be exhibiting it again!
2.) What are the things that have inspired, and continue to inspire, your work?
Over the years I have always been inspired by underlying themes of value. Psychology has always played a big role in my research and I often spend as much time researching for a project as I do making. The idea that feelings and memories can add value to an object is one that I am extremely passionate about and will continue to explore.
3.) Is there any advice you would give to artists and makers who are starting out?
Most importantly, be patient. Sometimes you have an idea that you love but you just can’t seem to get it quite right. If you work hard and listen to the advice of your tutors and peers it will fall in to place and it will probably be your best work! Record your struggles and don’t give up because it will come if the passion is there!
4.) What is your dream project?
A commission to do a world-wide study on comfort objects is my dream project! I would love to see how findings change between cultures and ages and then go on to create various collections similar to MOTION reflecting these findings, like an all encompassing 3D psychological study!
Image Credit: Kitty Jones
Image Credit: Kitty Jones
Image Credit: Kitty Jones
You can see Kitty’s beautiful work on display here at MCDC in Studio 1 as part of our Future Makers 2018 Exhibition. Click here to find out more about this fantastic exhibition.
Website: www.kittyalexandrajones.com
Instagram: @kittyalexandrajones