That is how Kath Libbert refers to a talented set of up-and-coming designers trained in the Scottish city whose work will be displayed at her annual contemporary jewellery show, held at her gallery in Salts Mill in Saltaire, West Yorkshire.
Libbert says: “When we were making our annual selection of the BA and MA new graduates from across the UK we just kept on picking those ‘Glasgow Gals’.
“They were just the most exciting, original, well-crafted collections – an exceptional crop of talents. We always want to showcase in our exhibitions the most talented ‘ones to watch’ and the ‘antiques of the future’.”
Seven of the nine graduates in this selling show are from the Glasgow School of Art. The west wing of the building completed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1905 was ravaged by fire three years ago as students were preparing for their degree show. The blaze destroyed the magnificent Mackintosh library. Restorations are under way and could cost £35m.
Another dimension
Isla Christie, a recent silversmithing and jewellery graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, uses digital tools to explore geometric forms. Working in silver and paper, she has developed a method of slicing her 3D models to create jewellery from layers of cut paper.
Christie describes her collection of primary coloured earrings as “not only kinetic but with interchangeable parts encouraging lots of playful interaction by the wearer”.
The exhibition at the Kath Libbert Gallery, entitled Identity, runs from November 9-January 28. Salts Mill also houses the largest collection of works by the Bradford-born artist Sir David Hockney.
