An interview
Recently I received this email:
My name is Lena Waldeck, and I am a final-year graphic design student at Central Saint Martins, an art school in London. For my final project, I am researching how craft can counter the accelerated landscape of modern life, and how the appreciation for time, materials, and environment present in many traditional crafts can offer a slower, more resonant relationship with the world around us.
I am building a small physical archive that documents different craft practices through objects, materials, and short written interviews. This archive will be presented as part of my degree show in June, and its aim is to create a platform for education, exchange, and appreciation.
I am emailing you today because I would really love to include your work in this archive!
Lena created a very aesthetically pleasing document with the interview including images of my work, but here is the text from the interview. It was a good exercise in having to give some deeper thought to my practice and I am grateful to Lena for reaching out and including me in her studies.
Suzanne Seed is an award-winning contemporary silversmith and jeweller based in Norfolk, designing time-less silverware and jewellery built for longevity and integrity. Trained in silversmithing, goldsmithing, and jewellery, she draws inspiration from modernist design theory, brutalist architecture, and 20th century UK water towers. She creates bold, textural forms with a commitment to recycled materials and the preservation of heritage.
How would you introduce yourself and your practice in a couple of sentences?
I am a silversmith and jeweller, using recycled precious metals to create functional items using the heritage craft of silversmithing as well as making jewellery. I work from my studio based in Norfolk which is also where I teach both silversmithing and jewellery.
I would go on to add, but then I know I am partial to talking too much so feel free to delete - I enjoy making things well, with my functional items working just as well in their utilitarian function as they are enjoyable to look at. It's important to my that my pieces are used regularly, and enjoyed often, rather than being saved for best.
What was your introduction to silversmithing? What first drew you to it?
I attended evening classes in jewellery making and didn't really know what silversmithing was at that time. I didn't realise it was still happening or that silverware was still being made. After a decade or so I decided to give jewellery making a go as a career and didn't know where to start so applied for a BA Hons in Silversmithing, Goldsmithing and Jewellery at UCA Rochester. It was during my first year there that I naturally started to move over to silversmithing and the larger objects. I think I enjoyed the problem solving needed to create larger pieces. It forced me to be slow, I couldn't make something fast like I could with jewellery but instead had to give in to the process of consideration, development, resolution etc.
Did you have any mentors or role models that shaped your path? Anyone who’s had a formative influence on you?
Debra Allman and Grant McCaig both have a massive influence on me during my degree, both (gently) pushing me out of my comfort zone to help me develop my own style. I'm currently being mentored by Chris Knights and the conversations through up a lot of questions where I am deep diving into what I make and why I like making it, and where I position myself and the correct platforms to show my work. So he isn't being formative as much as giving me the space and direction for me to stop and consider so I have that clarity moving forwards.
What barriers or challenges did you face when first starting out?
Financial and georgaphical. It costs a lot to set yourself up and if you live somewhere with no silversmithing community or shared studios you can use it's a bit of a long hard slog. Training courses at a professional level, are few and far between and again cost a lot (often including travel and accommodation too which increases the costs), which again is a big barrier when your work isn't generating an income to sustain itself. It took me quite a few years to set my studio up but I'm proud of everything I have achieved, slowly but surely.
What is the most rewarding part of your work? Why?
When someone buys one of your pieces it's amazing. You create designs you like and hope that others will like them too but its quite a vulnerable thing to put yourself out there in that way. It's a validation that your designs are as considered and pleasing as you think they are!
I also love being at shows and watching people interact with my work; when they pick a piece up and comment on the weight saying how satisfying it is to hold - I don't like my designs to feel substantial, to feel as good as they look. When they ask questions and you get to talk about the craft and explain how things are made, its a real moment of pride that you can share such an amazing craft.
What is the most frustrating? Why?
In order to sell the larger items you need to do certain high end shows who have the right audience for buying contemporary silverware. These cost a lot of money to do, which you don't have access to when your work isn't selling regularly. Its a bit like the chicken and the egg. Some shows offer recent graduates a free or discounted stand but I wasn't ready at that point to do a show as I was working to build up my tools, equipment and studio. I think consideration for where you are at rather than how long you have been doing it for would help those who are a little slower due to outside commitments. I feel a bit like I missed the boat because I couldn't be fully present in those first few years post graduation.
You mention that your work is underpinned by Modernist theories related to form follows function. What is the benefit of designing for function rather than ornamentation?
I love ornamentation, and sculptural non-functional pieces but I just cannot create them myself, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I feel that for a design to be justified, it needs a utilitarian function (I know this isn't true but it's something I seem to be chained to). And I say utilitarian function as we had a debate in university about how ornamentation has a function - instilling joy and pleasure for the viewer/wearer - so my thing is about a utilitarian function.
I'm not sure there is a benefit to designing for function as it means you need to scrutinise every area of the object to make sure it will function, and function well. I suppose we are a silversmith and product designer all in one. That exploration and development stage is lengthy and often you need to get it wrong in order to work out how to get it right but that is the part I really enjoy.
You also mention that you are inspired by Brutalist architecture and 20th century UK water towers. Is there anywhere else you look for inspiration?
Art Deco is a big influence, I love the clean lines and repetition. Modernist architecture and design also influences me. I have some postcards of some gold items created 4000 years ago which look very contemporary, almost like they have been made recently which always blows my mind.
Silversmithing is a time-consuming process that requires skill, patience, and precision. Do you think that people generally understand and realise this?
No, they definitely don't. I once showed a photo of a hand raised fine silver tumbler and asked people how long they thought it took to make, and how much they thought it cost. Most people said around an hour, and the average cost was £100ish. It was pretty depressing insight into how little is known and understood about silversmithing. But that is why it's so important to share details about the craft, to educate people and give them a better understanding.
Silversmithing is also an endangered craft. Why do you think it’s important that it is kept alive?
Silver and gold are made from stardust, they are as old as time itself. Silver is naturally antibacterial so an excellent material to use for food stuffs. There is something really special about holding precious metals, they way they absorb your body heat and gently warm with it. The metal feels like it holds the energy from its history, it's warm and comfortable to use.
Aside from that there is the longevity of the material, you buy it once and can use it your entire life, in fact it will outlive you and your descendants can use it too, and theirs and so on. It is the ultimate ecologically sound purchase.
Once craft has gone what else will we have? AI can't fill the gap it will leave, as humans we need this connection between the hands and materials, and the joy that crafted items give us.
You mention that you run workshops. What makes teaching rewarding and worthwhile?
I didn't know if I would enjoy teaching so I thought I would give it a go and fell in love with it. Watching people go from thinking they'll not make anything they are actually proud of, to seeing their faces when they see their finished object is amazing. It gives me a chance to share my skills and knowledge of all things gold and silver, and the more sharing we can do the better. It helps to educate people about what is involved. Every person who makes something with me will be sharing the process with their friends, and it all helps to promote the craft and increase awareness.
One of my favourite part of teaching is when a student asks me a question that I really have to think about. A lot of what we do is muscle memory, we no longer consciously think about it so when I'm asked something that I have to stop and think about, and articulate in a way that someone else can understands, it's enjoyable as it gives me the opportunity to consider and reflect.
What is the most important thing we, as a society, can do to preserve craft in today’s world?
Fund it! Fund the courses, fund the degrees, allow those with a talent and curiosity the space, opportunity and resources to play. Let those in school know it’s a thing; you can actually have a career in it. Ireland recently launched a scheme where artists and creative workers were paid a weekly wage, giving them the security to focus on their craft full time. The scheme didn’t just support artists, but it actually generated €1.39 for every 1€ invested, showing that investing in craft pays off for everyone! Craft across the board is dying out way too fast and it will be a real shame if after hundreds, in many cases thousands of years, the 21st Century is the one to see it end.
