Scottish jeweller Caitlin Hegney celebrates Ancient Heritage in her work, exploring rhythmic markings in metal and reclaimed wood in the pieces she designs and creates. This work reflects a fascination for Caitlin with the communicative value of lines, exploring how their ambiguity can transcend and resonate with humanity. Drawing is at the core of Caitlin’s practice, allowing visual moments of line and colour to drive her work. Her process of making is driven by the unpredictability of process—the shade of dyed wood or quality of line in metal takes on its own personality in a sequence as the piece develops. We are delighted to welcome Caitlin for her Elements debut as we bring you behind-the-scenes for a more in-depth look at her work and practice.

Caitlin uses the colour blue to attribute value to otherwise non-precious materials, a practice that began with the creation of her Degree Show at The Glasgow School of Art in 2018. Her work reflects the rich history the colour blue holds, as the pigment was once more expensive to import than gold.

Is there a specific historic piece or moment you credit as sparking your connection with the colour blue?

In my final year at art school, I was reflecting on work that I had made during my time studying there and I found that the colour blue was a reoccurring theme. It gave me a starting point for research and I was soon allured in by the lore of the colour. Throughout history, the colour blue has possessed rich symbolism; from utilitarian to freedom and purity to the barbaric. The lore that really sparked my connection to blue was that it was once more expensive to import and export that it’s weight in gold. This was because the Ultramarine pigment was created from a laborious process of crushing and filtering lapis lazuli stone. I am fascinated by how a colour can symbolise value. This is how I use the colour blue within my work; to attribute value to the non-precious materials in my work, reclaimed wood. Blue has become a fixation of mine, I think it is an addictive colour, Goethe puts it best in his study The Theory of Colours where he says ‘we enjoy gazing upon blue - not because it forces itself upon us, but because it draws us after it’.

The tools that Caitlin employs in her work draw across mediums—from paper, to metal, to wood. She carves into wood and lino with the same tools used to make marks in surfaces and draws onto paper using the same pigments use to dye wood.

What inspired your material choice of wood?

I am drawn to work with wood as it is a natural material and like metal, it speaks back to you when you work with it. I found that working with wood was a fantastic way to introduce colour into my work. My research of the colour blue led me to experimenting with various dyes and pigments. I work with reclaimed wood, so the material has a history, I love the way that the material responds differently every time to the pigment, no two pieces are the same. When I pigment the wood, it highlights the patterns in the natural grain of the wood, I find this really humbling, as the it means this element of the design is dictated to by the material and not myself as the designer and maker. Wood also gives the illusion of volume without the weight, so it makes larger pieces much easier and more practical for wearing.

Caitlin forges her own tools in steel, which she uses to create the marks in metal that are a trademark of her work. Caitlin’s metalwork patterns are created using hand-drawn marking through the techniques of chasing, forging and wirework, while she manipulates her woodwork through carving and dying with pigments. By forging her tools, Caitlin emphasises a personal connection to the ancient process of chasing, the art of drawing in metal.

Why did you start forging your own tools? How does this impact your work and your connection to the pieces you create?

Forging my own tools is a way for me to bridge a language between my drawings on paper and my designs in metal. My tools are hand forged to replicate the marking in my drawings. For me, this impacts my work because it makes my markings in metal expressive echoing my drawings. The forged tool creates a moment in time, a unique connection between material and maker. I love the fact that my tools are personal to me, hand forging my own tools means that there are no others like them in the universe.

The pieces Caitlin creates represent her fascination with the way in which her tool collections can dent, mark or carve a surface. These lines that appear in her work translate Caitlin’s designs onto a realised object, closing the gap between idea and reality. Caitlin’s processes explore the expressive nature of line, and the extensive material palette of an artist designer-maker. To Caitlin, this is the essence of her work.

What drew you to the technique of chasing?

When I tried Chasing for the first time, something resonated with me; it is a process that you feel, hear and see. I loved the, meditative motion of rhythmic hammering to achieve an embossed effect in metal surfaces. The technique was the closest experience to drawing, but in metal, it is a really expressive technique. It is uncertain when the technique was first introduced but it is assumed that the process dates back to the early half of the 2nd millennium BC. This also captured my interest as I feel connected to artisans from throughout history when I am Chasing. The reason that I make jewellery is a passion for craftsmanship, so by practicing Chasing, I am keeping the ancient process energised in contemporary society.

To learn more about Caitlin Hegney and her work, visit @caitlinhegney on Instagram or caitlinhegney.co.uk. Caitlin is one of fifty makers from across the UK taking part in this years’ digital Elements: A Festival of Jewellery Silver and Gold.

Images and video courtesy of Caitlin Hegney