About
Tuafawnia Adorn is the alias of Níamh Grimes, a jeweller from Manchester who is now based in Glasgow where she works on new collections, private commissions and independent research. With a mission to preserve the ancient craft of jewellery making, each piece is hand cast by the maker in her Glasgow studio. Tuafawnia Adorn jewellery uses traditional silversmithing techniques to inspect English, Irish and Scottish material cultures and heritage. Focussing specifically on the enduring everyday objects which belonged to previous Atlantic Archipelago inhabitants, each piece uncovers what the material remnants of historical folk customs and rituals can tell us about the lives of our predecessors.
A ring cast from cuttlebone mirrors the smoothed edges and scattered dents of a well used scythe, a silver pendant set with a freshwater pearl makes a nod towards Old Irish grave symbols and the freshwater mussels which nestle into nearby rivers.
Each piece from Tuafawnia Adorn is a tool for protection and a window through which to view the past.
Note from the maker
Being of both English and Irish heritage it feels intuitive for me to invite the likes of antique lace into my work, or to reimagine the motifs and forms I notice in the thick stone walls of old houses and factories around my family home in West Yorkshire. My making and research is a constant process of unearthing the customs, rituals and belief systems of the previous inhabitants of the Atlantic Archipelago, and my intention is to fabricate jewellery objects which gently bestow these insights to the wearer.
Note from the maker
Being of both English and Irish heritage it feels intuitive for me to invite the likes of antique lace into my work, or to reimagine the motifs and forms I notice in the thick stone walls of old houses and factories around my family home in West Yorkshire. My making and research is a constant process of unearthing the customs, rituals and belief systems of the previous inhabitants of the Atlantic Archipelago, and my intention is to fabricate jewellery objects which gently bestow these insights to the wearer.