Kevin Grey (born 1967)

‘Ludus’ is Latin for play. There is a strong element of deep play in Grey’s exploration of traditional craft techniques fused with new forms of fabrication. Here he uses the industrial technique of TIG [Tungsten Inert Gas] welding which makes strong, sharp joins. He brought industrial techniques to silver from his experience in the car industry, making bespoke elements for Rolls Royce and Bentley, before graduating from the Birmingham School of Jewellery in 2009. He made the ‘Sinew’ bowl, his first commission for the Company, just two years later in 2011. That piece was based on close observation of human musculature, realised as a sculptural silver form. 

The outer layer of the ‘Ludus’ bowl is made up of many irregular silver straps which are hand-cut and TIG welded so as to lie over and under one another to form a jagged lip. The inner layer, by contrast, is hand-raised and polished. He comments: “As my work has developed it is the resulting dramatic edge where these two making processes join which has become an area or particular interest to me.” 

DT