about

I am Adornment Maker whose work explores the complex relationship between the mind, body, and the anthropology of man within our 'throw-away culture.' My pieces are deeply grounded in materiality, working amongst the objects, letting them consume me and allowing the objects to 'speak to me.' I draw all my inspiration from the found objects discovered along the local coastline that have been naturally worn and shaped by time, as well as metal salvaged from South Wales’s industrial past. My work reflects the organic processes of erosion, transformation, and renewal, with each piece being a location response intimately connected to a specific place and the histories embedded within it.

As a maker, I'm constantly thinking about my impact on the world and how to make my practice more sustainable. Making the dislikeable into something likeable or even lovable is part of my mission as an artist. Creating intrigue through the 'new artefacts' created that pieces of pollution can provoke feelings of nostalgia and can also appeal aesthetically. Giving the pieces status but also prompting us to look at our impactful stop great symbols of overconsumption and general disregard for our environment. Scarred and broken-down surfaces where the objects have been in the sea for years marked by the waves. Nature taking over, consuming and sculpting these into new forms, micro landscapes, telling stories, revealing their history to us. They are landscapes that have recorded not only man's impact on nature, but also nature's impact on the man made entwined within their souls and ours.

​By reconfiguring these fragments into new forms, I reinterpret their context, breathing a new interpretation into them as wearable art-artefacts. Through this process of body adornment, the body becomes both a vessel with the object for storytelling and an embodiment of the past. My work invites the passerby and wearer to consider how objects evolve over time through material possession prompting a self-reflection on the connections between past and present through the lens of 'Modern Archaeology.' I want to encourage people to examine how we are shaped by and how we shape the objects we encounter on our lifelong journey on earth.

My process is intuitive, fully embracing the tactile and therapeutic nature of slow craft as a means of connection while also acting as a journey of self-reflection and healing. These creations are a unique exploration of memory, impermanence, and the subtle power of transformation, born from a place of both trauma and resilience.

Fashion & Object Photography: www.xristinacastro.co.uk @castroffoto

Louise Bourgeois " art is restoration...the idea is to repair the damages that are inflicted in life "

EXHIBITIONS

  • may 2026
    uwtsd, swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk - 'reverie - lost in making' ba design crafts group show

  • may 2026
    ffair cymru by the fete of britain, urban hq, swansea, wales, uk - 'where we grow - dream of swansea', collaboration with swansea photographer www.xristinacastro.co.uk

  • sept 2025
    london design festival, material matters, space house, covent garden, london, uk - 'beyond' ba design crafts collaboration between anglepoise & swansea college of art

  • may 2025
    uwtsd, swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk - 'routes' ba design crafts group show

  • sept 2024
    greenspace gallery, ferryside, wales, uk - 'water' group show

  • may 2024
    uwtsd, swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk - 'matter' ba design crafts group show

  • oct 2023
    mission gallery, swansea, wales, uk - 'together again' group show

  • may 2023
    uwtsd, swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk - 'odin' made with fire ba design crafts group show

  • may 2022
    uwtsd, swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk - ba design crafts group show

  • nov 2021
    mission gallery, swansea, wales, uk - 'art market' group show

  • dec 2021
    volcano theatre exhibition space, swansea, wales, uk - 'the clockwork crow' group show

WORKSHOPS + EXPERIENCE

  • nov 2025 - may 2026
    swansea museum & glyn vivian art gallery, swansea, uk - 'future archive' ba design crafts live brief with uwtsd, swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk

  • nov 2025
    stories.dreams.seeds, swansea, wales, uk - a collaboration with Kim Willis (Where We Grow) & Lucy Taylor (Make Work Play) 'Co-creating a more hopeful vision for Britain — one community at a time'.

  • may - july 2025
    anglepoise, portsmouth, uk - 'beyond' ba design crafts live brief with uwtsd, swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk

  • jan 2024
    uwtsd, swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk - runner-up live brief for bovey tracey craft fair

  • dec 2022
    volcano theatre, swansea, wales, uk - the dread zone - prop painting

  • aug - oct 2021
    volcano theatre, swansea, wales, uk - street theatre performance artist - a project by volcano, glynn vivian gallery, oxfam, taliesin arts centre + teatro el extranjero

  • 2017 - 2021
    mission gallery x swansea college of art, swansea, wales, uk - participant in workshops: animation, ceramics, glass + wearable sculpture

  • 2010 - 2016
    on location in uk + europe - supporting artist in film + tv

  • 2009 - 2010
    london, uk - millinery work experience: noel stewart - kylie minogue world tour headresses, victoria grant, bernstock speirs

  • july - aug 2007
    tate modern gallery, london, uk - Dali + film surrealist film course 

EDUCATION

  • 2027 - 2029
    uhi, university of the highlands + islands
    orkney, scotland, uk - ma contemporary art + archaeology

  • 2021 - 2027
    uwtsd, swansea college of art, wales, uk - ba (hons) design crafts: Glass, ceramics & jewellery

  • 2012 - 2013
    kensington + chelsea college, london, uk - edexcel btec level 4 foundation diploma in millinery

  • 1994 - 1995
    northbrook college, sussex, uk - btec diploma foundation studies in art + design

  • 1992 - 1994
    christ's hospital school, sussex, uk - a-levels: archaeology, fashion + textiles, art + design. gcse: archaeology