Rachael Colley
Sha-green series transforms citrus fruit peel food waste into a biodegradable vegan alternative to the traditionally animal-based luxury leather shagreen (ray or shark skin). Set in sintered aluminium frames, the denatured material comes alive when worn, emitting a subtle fruity fragrance as it’s warmed by the body. The jewellery's limited lifespan highlights the fleeting and complex nature of human existence and the passing of time, suggesting the ultimate end that conventional jewellery circumvents through its endurance.
Rachael thinks through materials and making, producing jewellery, tableware and sculpture which are explored in experimental dining events, exhibitions, installations and visual art projects. Based in Sheffield, the “Steel City” in UK, she creates work that challenges our collective connections with food and communicates aspects of her lived experience as a sufferer of the autoimmune disease systemic sclerosis. Questioning traditional notions of preciousness and value, her Sha-green jewellery series re-presents food waste as a vegan biodegradable luxury leather-like material. Sha-green pieces are held in the permanent collections of the Itami City Museum of Art, History and Culture, Japan; Archivio Negroni, Milan and Le Arti Orafe, Florence, Italy.
