Lin Cheung is a jewellery artist and senior lecturer in jewellery design at Central Saint Martin’s College of Arts and Design, London. She was invited to design the Paralympic gold, silver and bronze medals for London 2012.
Do you mind if your jewellery is worn or not?
If I designed it to be worn, it’s important that it can be worn. If, however, through the design I’m reflecting on how we perceive or react to jewellery, then I’m not so worried. The same piece of jewellery can mean different things to different people. Several hundred people might own a high street piece, for example, but they’ll all have different stories about it.
How do you use text in your work?
One piece has words etched in reverse on its surface and the wearer has to stand in front of a mirror to be able to read what it says. On another piece, I inlaid some text from a poem that can be read only if the wearer breathes on it to form a misting. I also made an object called Room Temperature that was a kind of thermometer.
Alongside the celsius and fahrenheit scales, there were other readings to suit the possible physical and emotional conditions in a room. It usually read "fair", “pleasant” or “amenable” but it could go up to “volatile” or “explosive”, down to “bleak”, “dismal” or “wretched”. It fluctuates like the real temperature.
How did you end up designing the Paralympic medals?
The organisers asked around 100 people – artists, writers and architects, not just metal designers – to submit a proposal. It was secretive, like a James Bond film. I’m a bit of a chatterbox when it comes to ideas and work, yet I couldn’t tell anyone for 18 months. That was the hardest part. The actual work was a breeze in comparison.
How did you approach the design?
The only thing they stipulated was that there had to be a narrative between the front and back of the medal. I knew what I wanted straightaway so we took an impression from a plaster cast in the British Museum of the statue of a victory goddess who had lost her wings. On the reverse side, I imagined the wings that would have carried her into the Olympic stadium.
The goddess is Nike, isn’t it? Do you have to be careful with the name because of sportswear and sponsorship conflicts?
It has connotations, doesn’t it? The only thing I was briefed about was not to say it too often. I’m quite entitled to say she’s a goddess.
Do you have one of your medals?
It didn’t occur to me to ask for one. As the Royal Mint is striking them, I didn’t even make a model. I believe only the Queen and the winning athletes will have them.
Lin Cheung will be showing with Galerie Sofie Lachaert at COLLECT, Saatchi Gallery 11-14 May
Do you mind if your jewellery is worn or not?
If I designed it to be worn, it’s important that it can be worn. If, however, through the design I’m reflecting on how we perceive or react to jewellery, then I’m not so worried. The same piece of jewellery can mean different things to different people. Several hundred people might own a high street piece, for example, but they’ll all have different stories about it.
How do you use text in your work?
One piece has words etched in reverse on its surface and the wearer has to stand in front of a mirror to be able to read what it says. On another piece, I inlaid some text from a poem that can be read only if the wearer breathes on it to form a misting. I also made an object called Room Temperature that was a kind of thermometer.
Alongside the celsius and fahrenheit scales, there were other readings to suit the possible physical and emotional conditions in a room. It usually read "fair", “pleasant” or “amenable” but it could go up to “volatile” or “explosive”, down to “bleak”, “dismal” or “wretched”. It fluctuates like the real temperature.
How did you end up designing the Paralympic medals?
The organisers asked around 100 people – artists, writers and architects, not just metal designers – to submit a proposal. It was secretive, like a James Bond film. I’m a bit of a chatterbox when it comes to ideas and work, yet I couldn’t tell anyone for 18 months. That was the hardest part. The actual work was a breeze in comparison.
How did you approach the design?
The only thing they stipulated was that there had to be a narrative between the front and back of the medal. I knew what I wanted straightaway so we took an impression from a plaster cast in the British Museum of the statue of a victory goddess who had lost her wings. On the reverse side, I imagined the wings that would have carried her into the Olympic stadium.
The goddess is Nike, isn’t it? Do you have to be careful with the name because of sportswear and sponsorship conflicts?
It has connotations, doesn’t it? The only thing I was briefed about was not to say it too often. I’m quite entitled to say she’s a goddess.
Do you have one of your medals?
It didn’t occur to me to ask for one. As the Royal Mint is striking them, I didn’t even make a model. I believe only the Queen and the winning athletes will have them.
Lin Cheung will be showing with Galerie Sofie Lachaert at COLLECT, Saatchi Gallery 11-14 May