Artist Statement - Kayle Bowes

Experimental, sterling silver succulent casting

The focus of my jewellery pieces is drawing inspiration from nature and incorporating them into my organic contemporary jewellery designs. I have been exploring casting and enamelling to replicate forms and colours found in nature. I have always been interested in the biology of how things work in nature and I have been filtering some patterns of plant's biology into some of my work. My experiments with different techniques were the start of my journey in finding the type of jewellery I want to make in the future.

Platinum Brooch

Platinum and vitreous enamel brooch

The brooch was designed for the Plat Africa 2020 competition titled Men of Platinum. The pattern was generated from one of my drawings that resembles leaf venations, or depending on the orientation of the brooch also resembles a butterfly wing. The vitreous enamel colours were inspired by my Garden Croton leaves. I learnt a new type of enamel setting from Nora Kovats work which I applied to this piece.