London-based jewellery designer Emma McGilchrist has been making waves in the industry with her thought-provoking pieces. Born in the UK and raised in the countryside, McGilchrist studied Fine Art Textiles at Goldsmiths University, where she began creating sculptural objects that formed the basis of larger scale installations.

Following her degree, she shifted her focus to metalworking, attending jewellery making courses at night school to learn new techniques. She then spent four years sharing a workshop at Flux Studios in Camberwell, London, where she honed her skills collaboratively.

Emma finds inspiration in words, “particularly Janus words, which mean both one thing and its opposite, such as ‘dust’ or ‘left’. Lines of literature which capture a sense of otherness or duality stand out. Finding ways to abstract or embody allows me to embed layers of meaning in each piece,” she says. 

As a designer, Emma aims to make pieces that empower and make people feel curious, connected, thoughtful, and unique. Her jewellery is a physical representation of her personal experiences and ideas, which continue in dialogue with the wearer’s own experiences.

For Emma, the materials she uses hold metaphors of the processes, she loves the way pieces hold marks and memory as she forms them. She likes the resistance of metal, the way she can form and reform it, the melting, the sounds and smells of working with it, and the fact that she can make these small but substantial objects.

Emma’s work can be explored and bought on the Cluster Jewellery Online Store.

“I tell, through jewels, moments and emotions or what touches my heart without compromising with fashion or market demands,” Fabiana explains. “I only my bare soul, my point of view on the world around me, my voice that screams or whispers disappoint, joy, sadness.” 

One piece in the Cluster show that is representative of Fusco's style and aesthetic is the "Ni una màs" ring from the Covid Collection. This ring takes inspiration from the domestic violence that grew during the lockdown. The ring is cast in 925 silver and red bronze, and the upper part has arms that come out from the centre and grab the women below who are trying to escape. Every woman expresses their suffering for the violence through their body. In the inner part of the ring, there is a small man who hides inside to represent the violence that often is behind house doors. According to Fabiana, this ring is representative of the new exploration that pervades in her work in recent years.

Emma’s work is inspired by psychoanalytic theory and explores themes of relationship, with her pieces embodying personal experiences and ideas. Her ‘BAR’ brooch is a physical representation of Lacan’s notion of the ‘barred subject’, referencing the inequalities that women still experience in society. The brooch incorporates her signature moving pins, tiny zeros, each representing the idea of woman as ‘lack,’ but which, in their numbers and shifting movement, belies and disrupts.

Emma’s evolution as a designer has also been shaped by her background in mental health nursing. She began making sculptural pieces, building up immersive installations with multiple layers of meaning. She worked back and forth between psychoanalytic theory – the exploration of how women become speaking subjects – and making objects embodying these experiences.

Fabiana Fusco is an Italian contemporary jewellery designer who is known for her unique approach to jewellery making. She founded her workshop in 2002, and her style is utterly unique and unmistakable. 

Fabiana uses lost wax micro-sculpture as her medium, creating tiny figures that allow her to have complete control over their grace, harmony and proportions. She believes that when she creates a jewel, she not only technically builds the structure that allows people to wear it comfortably but also creates its history. She wants to convey the emotions hidden behind a story that takes place within just a few centimeters. She uses her experience, passion, and emotions to create a piece of jewellery that a collector can recognise a part of themselves in.

Fabiana’s preference for precious metals or bronze is guided by her first apprenticeship in a silver workshop. As her studio evolved, she incorporated epoxy resin, 3D printed objects, and borosilicate glass in her creations to better represent what she is trying to express. 

Fabiana Fusco's style and aesthetic is unmistakable. She tells stories through her jewellery, using her emotions and experiences to create something that a collector can recognise a part of themselves in. Her work is not guided by fashion or market demands, but by her own inner voice and world view. Her exquisite pieces are available to purchase via the Cluster Jewellery Online Store.