Roots and Tattoos April 02 2014
Courtney and I were talking recently about our creative process, and since our conversation, I personally have been thinking a lot about my roots as a silversmith. In 2007, my final year at OCAD, I had to create my jewellery design thesis. This consisted of a body of work that I spent an entire school year developing along with a written component. My thesis project marks the beginning of my independent silver work. It was titled "Personal Trophies", and explored the concept of jewellery telling the story of personal triumph in the life of the wearer. Each piece was composed of two parts; the jewellery piece itself and a clear resin trophy-shaped display stand for the jewellery for when it was not being worn.
The idea was that the jewellery should be intensely personal, and my work kind of combined the nature of a tattoo with the concept of a public award. Tattoo designs usually carry a meaning and proudly declare something about the person, something important enough to ink on their skin forever. They are another form of self-expression, a story to be told. Jewellery can be equally special and important in a similar way (but you can take it off and change it up). More and more, people are finding the need to express the details of their lives to the world (just look at the rise in social media!). Some people do this by inking an image on their body forever, but jewellery can be just as personal and have a similar function. It can also be just as permanent, but much less of a commitment! I personally love tattoos, but can't commit to anything on my body for good... So I'll stick with sharpie tattoos and jewellery :) Trophies and awards are usually very public and recognize people for concrete achievements (like winning a contest or completing a marathon). They are often displayed proudly as tokens of success. In my thesis project, the jewellery pieces relate to something that the wearer is proud of, and give him or her the chance to talk about it. Displaying it as a trophy or award on a shelf celebrates the achievement really clearly!
And there it is: the root of Slashpile Designs, "Jewellery to start a conversation!" We always design with a concept or a story as the basis for our pieces, allowing our customers to start conversations about the things they are proud of or the things that they care about. I should add that Courtney helped me a ton when I was figuring out the concept for my thesis project. It works so well in our business because (while we do have distinctly different strengths and skills) we have such a similar way of working and coming up with ideas. We're looking forward to seeing how our work changes and evolves in the next stages of our business, while still staying true to our roots!