Liz Willoughby (She/Her)
I am an artist-designer-maker from the rural West Coast of Scotland. My jewellery practice celebrates that which is already in existence and provides new lives for objects that have already lived.
My degree collection ‘Na Mara’ is an ongoing project which focuses on place as a lived-in Landscape exploring Narratives of tension and expectation within coastal regions. I utilise Marine Plastics washed ashore, calling attention to the complex issue of Marine Industries in the rural economy. I provide new futures for these discarded materials as wearable souvenirs of the Highlands and Island, which emphasise human impact on a landscape. My work highlights the industrialised reality of places often romanticised as a wilderness void of people and seeks to open up conversations surrounding material potential and possible futures.
Na Mara Collection
Driven by curiosity, the collection focuses on material exploration and experimentation. I work spontaneously, often in direct response to the materials, collaging multiple elements to produce compositions that reference the changeable nature of the environment – including unruly fishing lines and natural patinas, which will alter over time.
By drawing attention to striking colours and textures available to find washed ashore and elevating these curiosities into wearable sculptures, I hope to reconcile the disparity in the perceived material value of precious and found materials.
Observing//Gathering
This project began as an investigation into Narrative and sense of Place – As it developed I became very aware of the abundance of materials available on the shoreline. A developing question arose – ‘what happens to marine plastics after they are washed ashore?’ If they are removed they will likely go to a landfill, but often they are too large and too remote to be carried away from the beach so they are left in large piles above the hightide mark.
My project provides an alternative life for these problematic materials. I begin my work out in the natural environment observing and gathering materials thrown ashore by the Sea, taking what I can carry back to the studio to begin a new life cycle. The majority of Plastics used in my final collection came from just one beach in the Assynt and Coigach area, and can be seen in the 2nd photo shown here.
Harvesting Materials
Composition Testing
A short Animation of around 100 compositions trialled while developing the Brooches and Pins in the ‘Na Mara’ Collection
I enjoy contrasts of colour and surface quality and chaotic yet considered compositions which reference chance occurrences I find on the shore.
Material Potential
Final Collection
Materials : A-Z – Aluminium, Cold process Enamel, Electrical Wire, Copper, Fishing line, Found Objects, Gold, Paint, Patina, Marine Plastics, Reclaimed Fibres, Rope, Silver, and Steel.
All of the Brooches and Pins shown are for sale – Please contact Liz directly for pricing and availability
