Sarah Warsop is a jewellery designer producing pieces inspired by and designed from choreographed movement. Sarah will be exhibiting her work at MADE10 in November.
One favourite living craft maker.
Clare Twomey. Her work combines ceramics, large scale installation and audience intervention. It successfully manages to be thought provoking, beautiful and engaging.
What one product/item do you really covet?
Very hard to choose, but I’m going to go for a piece of Alexander Calder jewellery. His jewellery is so spontaneous and seems to capture the moment in which it was made. I've read that he carried his pliers and a roll of wire everywhere he went.
At age 18 who influenced your style? Was there any individual who very much helped you on your way?
At 18 I started dance training full time, and for 23 years I've worked as a dancer and choreographer. So, at that age I was inspired by people like Pina Bausch and Merce Cunningham. They still inspire me.
I would say the helpful individuals came later: Gill Clarke, a dance teacher, who has extraordinary knowledge and patience. Choreographer Siobhan Davies who I've worked with for the past 13 years – she's an invaluable mentor. And Simon Fraser, of course. He was course leader on my MA Design at Central St Martins. He had the foresight to see that the leap from dance to jewellery was truly possible – that it could work.
What one product/item do you really covet?
Very hard to choose, but I’m going to go for a piece of Alexander Calder jewellery. His jewellery is so spontaneous and seems to capture the moment in which it was made. I've read that he carried his pliers and a roll of wire everywhere he went.
At age 18 who influenced your style? Was there any individual who very much helped you on your way?
At 18 I started dance training full time, and for 23 years I've worked as a dancer and choreographer. So, at that age I was inspired by people like Pina Bausch and Merce Cunningham. They still inspire me.
I would say the helpful individuals came later: Gill Clarke, a dance teacher, who has extraordinary knowledge and patience. Choreographer Siobhan Davies who I've worked with for the past 13 years – she's an invaluable mentor. And Simon Fraser, of course. He was course leader on my MA Design at Central St Martins. He had the foresight to see that the leap from dance to jewellery was truly possible – that it could work.
What’s currently on your i-pod, cd player, tape recorder?
Will Oldham, Phosphorescent, The Be Good Tanyas, and my friend Marianne Segal. She used to sing with Jade and has a voice like an angel.
Where and what is your studio?
My studio goes back and forth between a jewellery workbench at home on the south coast, and a dance studio in London.
What is your favourite (art) website (and why)?
Coolhunting.com at the moment. It’s a great place to browse and think.
Surprising activity/hobby?
I’m a trained Yoga teacher and do 1 to 1 sessions.
Do you have a good work/life balance? Are you able to switch off from art work?
I’m lucky enough to love what I do and that’s where the balance comes in, I think. Wine, and a good movie usually help me switch off!
What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Fundamental.
Do you think art and craft has any real importance?
Jeanette Winterson wrote a great article [‘The Making Game’ from the exhibition programme notes at Jerwood Space London, 16 June – 25 July 2010], and she said:
“I find that by having a few things around me that have been made by someone’s hand and eye and imagination working together, I am prevented from passing through my life in a kind of blur. I have to notice what is in front of me – the table, the vase, the hand-blocked curtains, the thumb prints in the sculpture, the lettering block. I have some lamps made by Marianna Kennedy, and what I switch on is not a bulb on a stem; it is her sense of light.”
This touches on how important I think making is.
What do think are crimes against good taste & decency in art/craft/design?
Sometimes I think there is an inability to see beyond the boundaries of your own medium – to see that good work is good regardless of whether it is time based, craft or visual art. Each space has its own value, but also has its own agendas and snobberies, which can be limiting.
Where and what is your studio?
My studio goes back and forth between a jewellery workbench at home on the south coast, and a dance studio in London.
What is your favourite (art) website (and why)?
Coolhunting.com at the moment. It’s a great place to browse and think.
Surprising activity/hobby?
I’m a trained Yoga teacher and do 1 to 1 sessions.
Do you have a good work/life balance? Are you able to switch off from art work?
I’m lucky enough to love what I do and that’s where the balance comes in, I think. Wine, and a good movie usually help me switch off!
What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Fundamental.
Do you think art and craft has any real importance?
Jeanette Winterson wrote a great article [‘The Making Game’ from the exhibition programme notes at Jerwood Space London, 16 June – 25 July 2010], and she said:
“I find that by having a few things around me that have been made by someone’s hand and eye and imagination working together, I am prevented from passing through my life in a kind of blur. I have to notice what is in front of me – the table, the vase, the hand-blocked curtains, the thumb prints in the sculpture, the lettering block. I have some lamps made by Marianna Kennedy, and what I switch on is not a bulb on a stem; it is her sense of light.”
This touches on how important I think making is.
What do think are crimes against good taste & decency in art/craft/design?
Sometimes I think there is an inability to see beyond the boundaries of your own medium – to see that good work is good regardless of whether it is time based, craft or visual art. Each space has its own value, but also has its own agendas and snobberies, which can be limiting.
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