An association of Cornwall's finest craft makers

Kennedy, Wai-yuk
Jewellery / Textiles

The influences on my work are as diverse as my background. My love of old Chinese stories and legends collides with my day to day experience of the Cornish landscape. My Fine Art training interacts with my fascination for the practical aspects of sewing and pattern making.

Creating my fabrics is a never-ending process of discovery, the fabric grows and changes as semi-transparent layers are added and then parts are melted away to reveal the hidden colours beneath. As a child I was fascinated by the play of light on running water. I would spend hours watching how objects and surfaces were continually distorted, hidden and revealed beneath a shimmering surface.

Making the finished jewellery pieces is a search for fresh and surprising 3D forms that can be made from little bits of fabric. Forms for smaller pieces such as earrings often grow from playing around with simple shapes. The brooches tend to be much more complex and I often find inspiration in the world for these. It may never be apparent to an outside observer but many of my brooch forms have grown out of my experience of the rugged North Cornwall coast. Others come from a long-time love of studying plant forms.