Sarah Pulvertaft

Jewellery maker

©Juliet Sheath

Never stay the same

Sarah’s jewellery is made of kinetic elements
The moving parts in her pieces suggest the motion of nature
Her work is technically complex with a modern aesthetic

Sarah Pulvertaft is British jewellery maker, who completed her undergraduate degree at Sydney College of The Arts Australia, in 1988. She established her own studio in London in 1995, although she now lives and works in Oxfordshire. In her formative years, Sarah was inspired by the work of the German goldsmith and engineer Friedrich Becker and his groundbreaking kinetic jewellery of the 1960s and 1970s. Sarah’s take on this concept and her approach to making kinetic jewellery is subtle and nuanced, making the technical look organic. During daily walks, Sarah absorbs the rural surroundings of Oxfordshire’s nature and channels these impressions through her work. The result is jewellery made of undulating elements that endlessly shift, mimicking the plethora of nature’s expression.

Where

Interview

©Juliet Sheath

©Juliet Sheath

How has your work evolved using kinetic elements?: The pieces I make have a subtle undulating motion and their construction is more akin to weaving than the highly engineered kinetic jewellery from the 1960s and 1970s that I encountered at art school. Over time, I have begun to make larger and more complex forms with the same system and motif, developing an abstract language to describe the mesmeric beauty of nature’s profusion.
How do you use repetition creatively?: In my work, I use small repeated elements, usually cubes, to speak about the repetition in nature that I see around me. The cubes are a motif I use to describe abundance in a way that does not seek to replicate what I see, but rather evoke some feelings.
What keeps you inspired?: I am inspired by many things, such as art, architecture, and the astonishing profusion of nature in the woods and fields surrounding my workshop. I enjoy technical challenges, and for me, the delayed gratification of making many small elements and then putting them together to create something more interesting than the individual components is very compelling.
What has been your most challenging work?: The pieces I am making now for an exhibition are the most challenging I have made to date. They are a narrative collection about a particular field I walk in daily. The repetition of a walking route leads to discoveries of natural phenomena. The rhythm of walking matches the rhythm of creating pieces with many small elements.

Sarah Pulvertaft is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1995