Jeweller Nora Fok's Bubblebath neckpiece in the Crafts Council Collection

Jewellery artist Nora Fok’s work is executed by hand with basic tools, using no mechanical processes. She is fascinated by nature, structure, systems and order, which she captures in complex work that often requires weeks to complete.

Her interest in jewellery began while studying at Brighton Polytechnic where she was particularly influenced by two teachers, Caroline Broadhead and Susannah Heron. They played a key role in developing her work, as did a fortuitous encounter with a tutor who was a keen angler and brought in some nylon fishing line that Fok has adopted, elaborated and mastered in refreshingly unique hand made creations. Her work is inspired by natural organic forms – flowers, stars and for this piece, bubbles.

Object details:

Date of making: 2001

Date of acquisition: 2007

Technique: Jewellery making; hand-knitting

Materials: Nylon thread

Dimensions: H75mm x Diameter 550mm

Crafts Council Collection number: J283

'Bubble Bath is a beautiful, contradictory piece that unites the natural and synthetic, giving a permanent, robust form to the gossamer and a transient quality – a wearable piece that will both transform, and be transformed by, the wearer. Fok’s materials and techniques create interplay between the magical and everyday. Nylon microfilament, otherwise used for fishing tackle, is knitted around her son’s toy marbles, giving a durability and complexity to remembered childhood bubbles. It’s a sculptural remembrance of play, a unification of the innocent and the contrived, a meeting of science and art.'

Rachel Coldicutt, digital consultant & creative producer. Co-founder of Maker’s Guild. Crafts Council Acquisitions Advisor 2011.