Leah Miles creates beautiful sculptural jewellery inspired by romances, handwritten letters and news from yesterday. She is inspired by the fascination for the overlooked qualities of discarded materials. Predominantly created from waste paper, her work questions the traditional opinions of presciousness and challenges existing notions of disposability and re use.
Leah Miles tells us:
« I work predominantly with found papers to create one-off jewellery pieces. The paper is sculpted into tactile forms revealing lines of colours and glimpses of text. Unwanted books, old diaries, documents and diagrams are transformed and given a new life, their content omly hinted at. the pieces often combine other materials such as pearls and silver which contrast with the paper.
I completed the BA in Contemporary Crafts at University College Fallmouth in 2007 and since then I have continued to live and make in Cornwall. I am inspired by my surroundings there as well as with the material itself. It’ s assciations with practical uses and text, and its ability to be altered through the process of making. Much of the paper is donated or found. This current collection makes use of old books about love stories and passionate affairs of the heart. »
Her experimental approach together with her work’s instantly recognisable aesthetic have gained her international exhibitions and awards from the British Crafts Council, the Association of Contemporary Jwellery and the Arts Council.
Leah Miles – bracelet
brooch ‘but to suggest’, paper, glass beads, silk, silver
brooch ‘direct in the romantic’, paper, freshwater pearls, silk, silver
necklace ‘chain of romance 2′, pages of a romance, silk, silver, fresh water pearls
will be at the « PAPERFICIAL » exhibition , Craft2eu Hambourg (DE) 10 mars-8 mai 2010
PAPERFICIAL « …is like paper, either of delicate transparency or of flexible stability,it can be cut like paper, or folded, scrunched up or pressed together, it wants to be painted and printed like paper. Paper creations are the big subject of many current exhibitions and catalogues. Inspired by this there is a trend in design and craft which turns many other things into something paperficial, just as if it were made of paper. We have put together some astonishing examples of this for your delectation. »
shop it at craft2eu