KIM BUCK
MY JEWELLERY IS ABOUT JEWELLERY, award-winning goldsmith Kim Buck explains laconically of his elegant, skillfully crafted designs – though simple, it is an apt statement. Buck’s delicate pieces reflect on the fundamental basis of jewellery – wearability and communicability. Buck creates jewellery that is to be worn, that will take on a new life once it leaves the hands of the maker: ”The important thing about jewellery is what goes on after the pieces leave the maker, what they mean to people. Through my pieces I try to show my respect for this, and to visualize the aspects and values of jewellery that we as makers have no influence on, and can take no part in.”
Utilizing materials including gold, silver, pearls, diamonds and even metalled plastic foil on occasion, as in the Gold Heart inflatable brooch, Buck crafts and hand finishes intricate rings, necklaces, pendants, brooches and objects using traditional and modern techniques. Using CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Designed and Computer Aided Manufacturing) software, Buck also employs conventional techniques, honed through his training as a goldsmith; as he says, ”My education as a goldsmith is the basis for everything that I do. I am in a very traditional trade that l both respect and dislike – my recent work reflects these contrasting feelings and mechanisms.”