Abigail Brown

My research explores the relationship between silversmithing, ritualised making, material animacy and ceremonial objects. The central research question is whether intentional making, undertaken through ceremony or developed ritual, can increase the perceived animacy, meaning or spiritual power of an object. Through practice-led research, I will investigate how the processes of transforming metal through heat, hammering, forming and finishing may become acts of intention, connection and ceremony.

The research will draw on indigenous and wisdom cultures, particularly Sámi duodji and Northern European traditions, alongside archaeological evidence from Bronze and Iron Age Britain and Europe. I will investigate how materials and crafted objects have historically been understood as active participants in human, spiritual and landscape relationships. Archaeological objects, including the Mold Cape, Snettisham Hoard and Gundestrup Cauldron, will be considered alongside museum collections and scholarship in archaeology, anthropology, material culture and histories of religion.

Contemporary practitioners will form a part of the research. Semi-structured interviews, studio conversations and, where ethically appropriate, observation or field research will investigate how makers incorporate intention, ritual, spirituality and relationships with materials into their practices. 

The practical research will result in a body of contemporary silver and metalwork made through intentional and ceremonial processes. A reflective visual and written journal will document the development of the work and evaluate how ritual affects my own practice, the resulting objects and their potential relationships with users, community, memory and the natural world.

Names of Supervisors: Emilia Ferraro, Shaleph O'Neill, Kristin Beeler