Precious Metal Clay (PMC) is a revolutionary material, invented a decade ago in Japan. PMC is a clay-like material made of fine silver particles, water and an organic binder. It can be worked like a clay and when fired in a kiln, the water and binder burn off, the silver particles fuse together, leaving .999 fine (pure) silver.
PMC is like no other material. in its fresh stage it acts like a clay; it can be textured, molded, formed. In its dry stage its curiously similar to wood, as it can be carved, sawed, and assembled into complex forms. Once fired, as metal, it can be hammered, filed and soldered.
This one material has limitless possibilities.
I try to put a contemporary
spin on ancient designs, as I’m influenced by both ethnic artifacts and current
fashion trends. I’m fascinated by the way things are put together: patched,
hinged, riveted, stitched, wrapped and often incorporate such connections in my
pieces. I gather inspiration from
a pattern on a textile; the texture of a leaf; beautiful, old rusty
things.
I often work with stones, using a technique that I developed specifically for PMC. I wrote a chapter on the subject for Tim McCreight’s new book “PMC Technic”. Pieces with gold are created by using an ancient, Asian metalworking technique called Keum-boo, where 24k gold foil bonds to pure silver through heat and pressure.
Basically, I make what I would like to wear: necklaces are short, earrings are long and rings are big!