Victoria Walker - Meaning and Movement

Victoria Walker is a Cornwall based jeweller that creates contemporary jewellery and studio jewellery pieces that are inspired by flowers and pods. 

Walker's jewellery consists of small locket like  jewellery pieces that open and close with touch or with the movement of the body. Walker creates her jewellery to resemble the opening and closing of flowers and seed pods where the petals of the flowers are connected to a base with small jump rings to create tiny hinge like systems that are able to move up and down. These hinge like systems of petals are surrounded by a moving shaft that, when moved down, allow the petals to tilt down to reveal a beautiful metal flower, when the shaft moves up, the petals are then forced up into the shaft to resemble a seed pod or bud. 

Walker's kinetic lockets are hand made using the techniques of piercing, domeing, drilling and soldering to create almost lifelike realisticly appearing pieces such as her thistle pendants, where each spike on the surface of the pod is soldered on by hand. Walker also uses various metals to recreate the different colours and hues found in nature, including silver, copper and gold and they are buffed and sanded to have a rough, non shiny finish to resemble the plant of inspiration. As a contrast,  some of her pieces are decorated with small shiny stones or pearls that allow her pieces to be more precious. 

Walkers pieces have a precious quality to them, not just because they are made with precious metals but because they have create a sense of sentimentality when the beauty, that is kept hidden inside, is suddenly and surprisingly  revealed to an unsuspecting eye. Walker creates "the idea that sometimes the most precious and treasured elements are hidden beneath the surface. " creating a beautiful metaphor that describes the human soul.