About My Work
I moved from Luxembourg to England in 2022 to pursue a BA in Jewellery & Silversmithing, after realising that I wanted to create work that was not only visual, but physical, something shaped by hand as much as by idea. Although drawing and graphic design had long been part of my life, I found myself increasingly drawn to making in a more tactile way, to forming objects rather than only representing them on paper. Jewellery and silversmithing gave me a way to bring those instincts together through drawing, design, material, and making.
My studies became a space in which I could work out what I wanted to create, what I wanted to say, and how I wanted to express myself. Over time, I began to understand that my interest lay not in making for its own sake, but in creating pieces that felt personal, symbolic, and emotionally charged. That process of discovery gradually led me towards carving, narrative, and multi-material work, and helped me define the artistic language I had been searching for.
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Untuk Ho-ting (For the casque), an unplanned piece inspired by the Rhinoceros Hornbill, became a turning point in that journey.
Through it, I found my artistic language in carving, material contrast, and intuitive making.
It showed me that trusting my hands and my process, rather than trying to control everything too rigidly, could lead to work that felt genuinely my own. Winning the Bronze Award at the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council for that piece gave me further confidence and affirmed that my approach, rooted in symbolism, emotional depth, and sculptural beauty, has a place within the field.
My work draws heavily from personal history and longstanding passions. Birds became central to my practice after years of fascination that began in childhood and later deepened through bird-ringing activities. Through carving, I bring them into my pieces using materials such as wax, tagua nut, silver, pearls, and gemstones. The result is sculptural, expressive work shaped by symbolism, narrative, and material presence.
I aim to create pieces that feel captivating and timeless, serene at first glance, yet often holding something more peculiar, mythical, or thought-provoking beneath the surface. My practice balances intuitive making with envisioned design; some works begin with a clear concept or image, while others emerge more naturally through carving itself. Birds remain the connecting thread throughout, symbols of endurance and vulnerability, freedom and fragility. Each piece becomes a quiet dialogue between material, maker, and meaning.
I am excited to see how my artistic language continues to develop over time, through experience and making, and how that process will continue to shape both my work and myself.
Mission
My work is about creating deeply personal, hand-carved pieces that carry meaning, emotion, and story. Birds sit at the centre of that practice, not only as subjects of beauty, but as symbols, messengers, and vessels for larger ideas around fragility, memory, love, loss, death, and conservation.
Through carving, material contrast, and careful making, I aim to create pieces that feel soulful, sculptural, and rich in narrative, objects that invite people to look more closely and discover something deeper within them. I want the work to feel authentic, expressive, and made with care, rather than detached, decorative, or commercial.
Conservation and appreciation are also central to why I make what I make. My interest in birds is not only visual, but rooted in genuine admiration for their presence, symbolism, and vulnerability. A core part of my practice is to encourage people to look more closely at birds, to value them more deeply, and to feel a stronger connection to the natural world around them. If the work can spark curiosity, emotional connection, or greater awareness of the need to protect these species and their environments, then it has done something beyond simply being beautiful.
I do not want conservation to remain only an idea within the work; I want it to be a real part of the practice as well.
At the heart of it all is a desire to keep the work personal, honest, and meaningful. My goal is not simply to make beautiful things, but to create objects that carry feeling, hold significance, and deepen people’s appreciation for birds, nature, and the stories materials can tell.
5% of all profits will go towards charities supporting birds, wildlife, and conservation. My hope is that each piece not only expresses appreciation for the natural world, but also contributes to protecting it in some small, meaningful way.
My Inspirations
Birds are my greatest source of inspiration. I find them endlessly fascinating, not only for their beauty, but for their sheer variety, their beaks, colours, sizes, movements, and ways of inhabiting the world. They move through air, trees, water, and land with a freedom and adaptability that I find both visually captivating and symbolically rich. They inspire me not only as subjects, but also as carriers of meaning, beauty, fragility, resilience, and story.
Photography is another major source of inspiration in my practice. I often spend time looking through bird photography, especially images that capture remarkable movement, expression, or interaction. A single photograph can become a direct reference for a piece, or open up an entirely new idea through posture, atmosphere, or detail. I do not have one particular favourite photographer, as the images that move me tend to come from many different places, but photography feels especially personal to me because my father is a photographer, and some of the bird images he has taken have been deeply inspiring.
Beyond birds themselves, I am deeply inspired by art, especially painting. Art Nouveau remains my favourite movement, particularly for its flowing lines, natural forms, ornament, and its ability to unite beauty with symbolism. I also love Japonisme and Japanese art, both of which continue to influence the way I think about line, stylisation, nature, and composition.
René Lalique is a major inspiration to me and one of the most important figures in jewellery history in my eyes. What I admire most is the way he brought together multiple materials, colour, symbolism, and sculptural form to create work that feels poetic, expressive, and deeply considered. His jewellery was not limited by conventional ideas of value, but instead used materials for their visual and symbolic power, something I find especially inspiring in relation to my own practice. He later moved into glasswork and became a major figure there as well, which makes his career feel even more significant. That breadth, and the way his work moved between disciplines while remaining artistically distinctive, is something I find incredibly inspiring.
Peacock corsage ornament by René Lalique, c. 1899
Among painters, Gustav Klimt is one of my absolute favourites. I am especially drawn to his use of repeated pattern, rich colour, and stylised forms, and to the way decorative elements can carry emotional and symbolic weight. That balance between beauty, ornament, and deeper meaning is something I find incredibly inspiring
I am also deeply inspired by sculpture and ceramics. One ceramic artist I find especially inspiring and relevant to my practice is Sarah J. Conti, whose bird sculptures engage with environmental, social, and political issues. I really admire the way her work balances beauty with message, and how she uses birds as a means of speaking about much larger concerns.
In terms of contemporary makers, I especially admire Steph Lusted and Aaron Brown. Interestingly, both are based in New Zealand, something I did not consciously set out to seek, but which clearly says something about the work I am drawn to. I have not been to New Zealand yet, though it is very much one of my dream countries, so perhaps that connection is a sign. Steph Lusted’s work especially felt close to the direction I am developing in myself, and I was particularly excited to discover that she also works with tagua nut. What draws me to these makers more broadly is the sensitivity in their carving, stylisation, and use of natural materials, as well as the way they represent birds, nature, and form. Their practices feel deeply aligned with the kind of work I want to continue exploring, and they have strengthened my interest in trying stone carving for myself.
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