Tiny gold bees gracefully hanging above an old map; an outstretched bird carrying it’s own golden cage; a flock of diamond studded pigeons endlessly reflected in miniature mirrors. Zoe Arnold is one of my favourite jewellers; her work is rich in meaning and concept as well as incredibly well made and original. I first fell in love with Zoe’s work when I was at art school and today she is my featured artist.
Zoe graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2003 – she initially planned to study sculpture but found she loved working in fine detail so decided to do jewellery instead. You can really see the sculptural element in her pieces, and she describes her work as “Art to be worn by the artist, writer, intellectual or collector of dreams.”
Zoe has won awards for her complex and delicate pieces, and uses a range of precious and found materials including, silver, gold, antique microscope lenses, photographs, ribbons and precious stones. So diverse and unusual is her work that she often creates sculptures in which her pieces are displayed, as well as fully working automata.
Zoe’s work is conceptual in that it always carries with it an intriguing narrative. As she writes poetry and short stories often a piece or range of pieces will be accompanied by a limited edition book of poems. Her pieces are widely acclaimed, and have been purchased by; the Victoria and Albert Museum, Crafts Council, Contemporary Applied Arts, National Museums of Northern Ireland and the Alice and Louis Koch Collection, among others.
Zoe’s work could be said to be fairy-tale like in its appearance, the meaning may not always be clear but the feeling of a story, an idea and an inspiration is ever present. I love the essence of treasure which Zoe imbues in her work, carefully made and beautifully presented each piece is interesting and desirable – causing wonder at the skill needed to create such work and inviting you as the beholder to delve a little deeper.
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