Rachael Colley - Precious Collective
Rachael Colley
Designer biography:
Rachael thinks through materials, producing jewellery, tableware and sculpture which are explored in experimental dining events, exhibitions, installations and visual art projects. Based in Sheffield and Birmingham, two of the UK’s renowned industrial cities, she creates artefacts that challenge our collective connections with food and communicate aspects of her lived experience with autism (ASD) and as a sufferer of the autoimmune disease systemic sclerosis. Rachael exhibits and publishes work nationally and internationally, undertaking practice-led research-informed teaching as part of her role as senior lecturer in jewellery and metalwork at Sheffield Hallam University. Pieces from her Sha-green jewellery series are held in international collections in Japan and Italy.
Collection concept:
Over 26 million people are estimated to suffer from a long-term chronic health condition in the UK alone. ‘MelonColley’ series comprises jewellery and ambiguous eating implements which use materiality and humour to more openly discuss the depression experienced by sufferers, with a focus on Rachael’s personal experience of the auto-immune disease systemic sclerosis. The condition causes the body to attack itself and affects internal skins and muscles, leading them to atrophy over time, with changes to her gastro-intestinal tract having led to disordered eating. The discarded melon skin’s re-presentation as jewellery indicates the body’s own preciousness and communicates aspects of her bodily sensations through the material’s transformation, highlighted by the hardened leather-like fruit peel food waste.
RachaelColley_brooch_MelonColley_2024_watermelon peel_comfrey petals_aluminium_stainless steel_15x8cm
RachaelColley_brooch_MelonColley_2024_watermelon peel_marigold petals_aluminium_stainless steel_13x11.5cm
RachaelColley_neckpiece_MelonColley_2024_sintered aluminium_watermelon peel_flower petals_stainless steel_hematite_mica
