KATIE LEES JEWELRY

Artist’s Statement

As a recent graduate of the Glasgow School of Art I dedicated my final year to the
exploration of the perhaps incongruous concept of creating finely crafted
jewellery, of silver and semi-precious stones, from the heavy industrial aesthetic
of the shipbuilding history that has moulded the city of Glasgow. The language is
drawn not only from the pragmatic forms and robust engineering of the ships
themselves but also from the remnants of industrial steel sheds, from sheets of
rusted steel and dock stanchions of weather washed wood that define the river
Clyde along its length. The industrial aesthetic is not self conscious but prosaic
and through a process of photographing, drawing and painting, condensing,
repeating, and printing I have derived a body of work which extracts the
essence of these evocative forms.

Whilst undertaking a years residency at the Duncan of Jordanstone School of art,
I will continue my exploration of our industrial surroundings and how they
effect our everyday lives.