MARINE ALCHEMY

Marine Alchemy is a collection of oversized bracelets, made using the materials and techniques of shoemaking and based on the form of the signet ring.

In this collection food waste is transformed into jewellery. Discarded fish skin is tanned using ancient methods. These methods are combined with Blake’s own tanning process, using food waste as the tanning agent, to create a biodegradable, sustainable alternative to ‘exotic’ leathers such as python.

In this collection Blake experiments with scale, material and processes: tiny rings become large bracelets, hard metal is swapped for soft leather and the sharp facets of cut gems are interpreted in richly textured salmon skin.