alex o’connor
alex o’connor
Alex designs contemporary silverware and objects which use pure forms and subtly tactile surfaces; each piece celebrates the material and evokes the resilient, dynamic landscape of her native West Cornwall.
Vessels and vessels groups are a consistent presence in Alex’s work. These potent, archetypal objects arranged in formal compositions have a contemplative purpose; Alex sees them as containers for meaning and a sense of place.
Alex came to silversmithing from a background in Fine Art and sculpture so her silverware is preoccupied with form, composition, visual weight, balance and surface. She retrained at Truro College in 2014 with the intention of making elegant, minimal pieces of jewellery but the jewellery kept growing larger and strange hollows began to appear in each piece… At the age of 44 Alex realised that she “wanted to be a silversmith when I grew up”!
Collections:
Exhibitions:
2020: Goldsmiths’ Fair, Collect, Decorex
2019: European Silver Triennial Hanau Germany, Goldsmiths’ Fair, Collect
2018: Goldsmiths’ Fair
Awards:
commissions
Alex welcomes special commissions - please contact us to discuss how Alex can realise a unique piece for your home or organisation.
“Silver is a very responsive metal. It ‘talks’ as you work with it – you hear it becoming work-hardened as you hammer it, or feel it start to resist as you form it. Silver relaxes when you anneal it. You have a conversation with the metal.”
— Alex O’Connor
