Karen Westland

• Silversmithing/jewellery

Karen’s work is inspired by a range of themes: most predominantly the ethics of ‘survivalism’ connecting everything together. This can be seen in works that explore the scientific equipment built to explore outer space and humanity’s endeavours to preserve human life beyond Earth, or in more recent work which have explored the power of nature through a series of hand-engraved motifs featuring the four elements as ‘natural disasters’: tornado, tsunami, wildfire and earthquake. The relationship we have with the universe, questions of time and our existence are also underlying subjects of their work.

Karen adopts a design-led approach and draws on a range of traditional and digital techniques to realise their designs. Karen works in sterling silver, gilt and occasionally uses 18ct gold detail to make bespoke work using time-consuming processes which combine techniques to evoke different stories in each work. A key part of Karen’s design process is to make 2-part moulds, punches and tooling to form silver sheet in ways that off-the-shelf tools cannot achieve.

Developing responsible craft methods has been a major influence on their practice and is integrated into the overall design inspiration. Karen aims to create refined silverware using 100% recycled silver and other responsibly sourced materials. They have been a Fairmined Licensee since 2017, which supports responsible artisanal and small-scale gold and silver mining in Colombia and Peru.

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