Meet The Maker - Saipranathi Sreeram

Saipranathi Sreeram grew up in Bengaluru, India, surrounded by objects of Craft. Jewellery was one of these, but their particular interest was developed later. For it is now a language, a way of expression. A ‘wearable’ object that voices what they can’t verbalise.  Hailing from a former colony, their work which evolves in the UK, often challenges the notion of ‘post-colonialism’.  

"The collection is titled ‘Un-Paisley’; it is inspired by the pattern called ‘butta’ in India, ‘paisley’ in Scotland and the West, but I, like my mother, call it the ‘mango’."

The collection features brooches and earrings made from mixed materials and silk threads utilising traditional textiles techniques. The twists and curls of threads represent the patterns, as if fabrics themselves have unravelled to reveal the true origins of the Butta, and its transformation into the 'Paisley'.

When did you start creating jewellery?

I’m not entirely sure. I’ve always made things to wear with everything I could find around me, but I only started seriously pursuing it when I started my bachelor’s degree at the Glasgow School of Art. There, I learnt that jewellery can be so much more than adornment!

Who inspires you the most? 

I think it’s a mixture! Stories inspire me, and listening to other jewellers’ inspirations and processes motivates me! But my family and friends have been my biggest cheerleaders, with my peers pushing me to create my best work possible.

Which is your favourite piece in your collection?

‘Un-Paisley 6’ is a silver and graphite-coloured brooch sold at New Designers 2023. It is my favourite piece in the collection. I tried to emulate silver to look or feel like thread for the longest time, but without much success. But in an impromptu conversation with my tutor, he suggested combining them both, and it worked! And that was the first piece where I used that as a material.

Please can you tell us a bit about your creative process?

I am a chaotic maker; I jump between ideas and try too many little things, but in the end, I emerge with an idea I like and a technique or material I want to pursue. Before I start making a piece, I like to think through the making process, and mull over the details, but the work continually evolves through the making into something better than I could have imagined!

What’s next for your creative practice? 

As I’ve said, I am a chaotic maker and would like to refine my creative process slightly more. I want to practice delving deeper into a subject rather than hopping about. I will be starting a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art, which would be the ideal place to do so.

Finally, for fun, what would be your dream piece to make or person to make for?

I want to make a piece using mixed metals but using the metals based on their material characteristics; to use fine gold and silver for their ductility, niobium and titanium for their vivid oxidised colours, and juxtaposing them with steel, and maybe letting the steel rust, playing it against the other finer metals.