There has always been something really interesting about the Peterson Jewellery collection. Maybe it is the manner in which she melds disparate fabrics together, including plastics and felts, or the imagery she utilises (if imagery is the true phrase to employ, possibly scribbles would better describe her work than imagery) that stirs up such a unique formative dream like style and ensures her jewellery compositions are immediately identifiable. I think perhaps more than any of these things, I find that Linas jewellery disregards the constraints of fresh, identifiable jewellery fashions, which makes her jewellery more akin to miniature carvings or objects that just happen to be wearable.
One of the main attractions for me is her forward-looking use of cloths in amongst each of her disparate technologically advanced textiles which instantly remove connotations of workmanship, and so thrust the possibilities of textile design forward a notch or two. With pieces such as her slender-looking Embroidered Brooch which employ gold-plated copper and a finely seamed cloth or the Orange Necklace which merges material with finished wood and beads, and the Collage Brooch which features foam, textiles, and dip-coated all-metal in Citrus lemon yellow, Lina’s Jewellery traces a precise line between cloths more normally connected with industrial processes and fabrics much neglected in present-day jewellery.
Lina started out her imaginative career on a Foundation course at London Guildhall University in Art & Design before moving on to further study at the University of Brighton. After having achieved tremendous success on graduation, coming away with the New Designer Association of Contemporary Jewellery Award, she also featured as a runner up in the Jewellers Design Junior, Goldsmiths craftsmanship and Design Awards, before going on to perfect her workmanship at the prestigious Royal College of Arts MA Goldsmith, Silversmith, Metalwork and Jewellery course.
Since graduating, Lina has undertaken numerous teaching positions, including the Reach Out program at the RCA, as well as splitting her time as a visiting lecturer at the University of the imaginative Arts Farnham, Glasgow School of Art and even as far flung as the King Saud University & The Art & Skills Institute, in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia!
For Spring/Summer 2009, Lina took on a commission for New York brand Ports 1961, who exhibited her collection of jewellery on the runway.
Lina continues to formulate her collections alongside teaching, and has plentiful stockists all over the globe, the majority of whom are UK and USA based whether it be from London and Cornwall located galleries to Washington DC, Chicago and Seattle.
I am hoping to interview Lina about her jewellery for a designer of the month column in 2010 so watch this space!
