Uncontrolled Nature: A New Approach to Jewelry Design

Elizabeth Jayne Crawford's Unique Blend of Natural and Geometric Forms

Elizabeth Jayne Crawford's inspiration for her collection, "Uncontrolled Nature," comes from her surrounding natural environment. She uses natural materials to create unique forms and structures in her pieces. However, she doesn't take nature in a literal sense. Instead, she aims to create a new type of nature-inspired jewelry that uses natural materials to form the physical shape of the pieces.

What sets Crawford's designs apart is her use of a specialized technique that allows the shapes to form naturally, expressing nature's uncontrollability. Each piece is truly unique, just like in nature. The pieces also explore contrast by incorporating controlled geometric shapes with the natural formations. The wearer's comfort has been taken into consideration, with pieces like the collar having a hinged opening mechanism and contoured form for easy wear.

Crawford uses a variety of processes in her work, including free-form casting. This process allows her to create forms from molten metal that appear organic as the metal is free to flow and form unique shapes. This type of casting is rarely used within commercial pieces as it is highly experimental and can't be used to produce consistent results. However, Crawford has found these qualities to be a great benefit to her designing process as they ensure that each piece is unique.

The collar and ring in the collection are made using sterling silver, with a deep purple enamel used to enhance and showcase the complexity of the natural forms. The pieces can easily and comfortably be worn as statement pieces of jewelry. The creation of these pieces started with Crawford's university graduation project in early 2015.

Initially, Crawford began this project by researching the various forms of natural inspired jewelry currently available. Through analysis and experimentation, she concluded that using manufacturing processes that produce random, natural-looking results was the least exploited style and also the most interesting. The most challenging aspect of manufacturing her pieces in this uncontrolled manufacture process is that she never knows exactly what a piece will look like until it has been cast. This also means that each piece she creates is completely unique and therefore bespoke to each customer purchasing a piece.

Elizabeth Jayne Crawford's "Uncontrolled Nature" collection is a testament to her innovative approach to jewelry design. Her pieces, inspired by the unique complexity and irregularity of the natural environment, explore how the uncontrollability of nature can be expressed through a variety of manmade, controlled processes. These forms are then featured within pieces as miniature sculptures, demonstrating the complex and diversity of nature. The collection was awarded Silver in A' Jewelry, Eyewear and Watch Design Award in 2016, a testament to Crawford's outstanding expertise and innovation.