A Typical Thing
A TYPICAL THING - STUDIO TOUR
WORDS: JO DOWSETT
PHOTOGRAPHY: CAROLYN CARTER
“a truly unique collection of jewellery which is beautiful, feminine, contemporary and interchangeable.”
Josephina has participated in The Paperdolls Markets for a number of years and so we were delighted to visit her in her beautiful studio to find out more about the making and design process of her jewellery. Josephina’s studio can be found in the heart of Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter within a Victorian grade II listed building called the Spectacle Works which once manufactured glasses. The Spectacle Works is a fantastic building combining both living and workspaces for the creative and craft industries.
Josephina studied Design Craft at Leicester university and initially loved the workings of ceramics and sculpture. Once she began working with metal, it became a fascination. ‘I loved the idea of pushing a robust and resistant material like metal to it’s limit. It is not malleable like clay.’
Josephina has Spanish heritage; she was born there and has lived in Spain over the years. After graduating and working in the UK for a couple of years, she returned to Spain and spent a year in Seville working for a jeweller. She began by making pieces of jewellery in leather, leaning on her knowledge of sculpture from university. Once she began to combine her love of metal and jewellery, she has not looked back.
She now combines her love of clay, recycled plastics and metal to create a truly unique collection of jewellery which is beautiful, feminine, contemporary and interchangeable. Her jewellery is about integrating different elements to create statement pieces that focus on strong geometrical shapes and colour. Each piece is unique and has been manipulated by hand using a number of tools and Josephina’s incredible eye for detail, shape, form and colour.
Josephina’s work space is a beautiful, light and airy room overlooking the mature trees of the churchyard in the Jewellery Quarter. She also has a separate workshop space where she runs twice monthly workshops on creating sustainable jewellery. It is hard to believe that she is based in the city centre as her surroundings are so quiet and peaceful. Her bench, furniture and tools have all been found or sourced second hand. Her work ethic is to be as sustainable as possible and all her pieces are made using recycled precious metals and sustainable and ethical stones. Her unique ability to combine these with a throw away material such as plastics is inspired.
Where do you seek your design inspiration?
‘I have always admired modernist jewellery, in particular Studio Jewellery in the US during the 1960s. It was deemed a new wave of jewellery made from silver, copper and scrap materials; a wearable art. I also love simplistic shapes and modernist designs. I am inspired by abstraction of shapes I find all around me. In particular, the architecture and the windows of my surroundings in the Jewellery Quarter, especially the shapes of the cast iron windows. I take photos of my environment and then use the individual geometric shapes in my jewellery.’ Josephina is currently working on adding to her Window Collection. ‘I am not looking to create capsules or look books of designs but simply to add to my current work and for all the pieces to sit together seamlessly.’
What is your design process?
‘The shape always comes first; I use wire which is rather like drawing with lines. I then form the metal to match the shapes. I collage with papers and experiment with colour from paint samples to create the theme of my pieces and I then begin to work with my chosen materials.’
What makes your collections unique?
Many of Josephina’s pieces are interchangeable. The individual elements of some earrings can come apart and be worn as separate pieces allowing for a ‘two in one’ item of jewellery allowing for both statement pieces and smaller discreet jewellery in one piece. Josephina also uses a very delicate colour palette ‘I am inspired by the terracotta hues from the Jewellery Quarter buildings. I use subdued colours to make my pieces delicate and appealing.’
Josephina is also very strongly influenced by sustainability and uses many recycled materials such as reclaimed plastic clay and recycled plastic. ‘I want to integrate design and sustainability in my jewellery. If I don’t like something I am working on, the metal goes into the scrap pot and I melt it down into individual ingots. These ingots are fed through a roller again and again to be stretched into the desired shape which is very physical and can take a long time.’
What pieces of jewellery could you not live without?
‘I love my ingot necklace made from scrap metals that have been chopped up and melted together. I crunch the metal, pickle it and flatten it. I have had it engraved with a special date for me and my partner.’
Josephina continues to be a wonderful addition to our Paperdolls Market. She is such a wonderful creative and we love seeing her time and time again and discovering her new pieces. Her intrinsic ability to create such beautiful, statement pieces in both a sustainable and ethical way should be applauded and we are delighted we can showcase her work time and time again.
Find more of Josephina’s work here:
@atypical.thing
atypicalthing.co.uk
And if you would like to book a studio tour with The Paperdolls you can find out all the details and how to apply here
