MEET THE COX LONDON MAKER

Kim, Patination and Finishing Technician

How long have you worked for Cox London??

I have worked for Cox London for almost 5 years now. I work two days a week and the rest of my time is devoted to my own creative practice making etched artworks – wall-based meditations in metal – inspired by historical ornament and sacred artefacts.?

How did you train for or learn your craft??

I studied for a BA (Hons) in 3D Design at WSCAD (now UCA) Farnham, specialising in metals. This course offered significant training in a wide range of metalworking processes from fine jewellery all the way through to blacksmithing and foundry work. It gave me a real love of working with metal. Intaglio etching was one of the first techniques that I was introduced to on the course and this sparked a lifelong exploration of this process, I love the ‘bite’ of line into the metal surface and the ability it gives me to draw onto metal.??

After graduating, I went on to establish my practice as a maker before completing an MA (Metalworking and Silversmithing) at the Royal College of Art.?I am currently undertaking a PhD practice-based research degree exploring casting and etching.?

I am a senior academic with extensive teaching experience gained over a 25-year career in Higher Education. I am passionate about craft education and the passing on of skills and knowledge to the next generation of makers. Making matters!?

Where do you find inspiration in your making??

My work explores ideas around sacred and circumscribed space. Inspiration for my making is drawn from objects and imagery that, through art and science, attempt to understand the cosmos and our place within it. I love mathematical and scientific diagrams of the past as well as sacred geometry, alchemic drawings, mandalas and temple architecture.??

Everything starts with drawing, it is central to how I work, acting as reference, content and archive to the pieces I make. Intricate, detailed drawing is combined with fragments and imagery pulled from a personal, collected archive of photographs, objects and mark-making. Work begins with historical and visual research and is then developed intuitively through a combination of drawing and making, assemblage and collage, carving and fabrication, working and reworking. I value the history of the making, the marks and traces that are left on the work from this process, for me they embody the heart and soul of the work.?

What advice would you give someone wanting to explore making??

Just do it!??

There are so many ways to explore making and learn to work with materials. Learn what you can from the people you know. Play and explore with different materials, you don’t need to spend lots of money - I’ve seen beautiful things made of paper and card.

Experiment with different materials and discover what interests you. I learned woodwork from my Dad, and sewing and knitting from my mum and this sparked a lifelong career and love of making.??

There are brilliant degree courses in design and making that cover a range of materials – Metals, Ceramics, Glass, Furniture and Textiles – where you can take a deep dive into making. As well as this, there are all kinds of skills-based short courses in making, many makers will offer one-to-one teaching in their workshops and there are some great apprenticeships within the creative industries where you can learn to make.?

+44 (0) 203 328 9506 | [email protected] | www.coxlondon.com

Cox London ? 46 Pimlico Road?? London, SW1W 8LP ? UK