Naomi Filmer

Naomi Filmer is a jewellery designer that has trained in 3D Design at undergraduate level, then obtained an MA. She then specialised in jewellery design at the Royal College of Art in London in 1993. Although she is classed as a jewellery designer, her work is very sculptural and is often made for areas of the body such as the armpit or the mouth, that traditionally aren’t associated with jewellery. As well as making her own bespoke pieces Naomi Filmer has made jewellery for well known British fashion designers like Hussein Chalayan and Alexander McQueen. Since 1999 she has made work to commission for international exhibitions.

Naomi Filmer is a jewellery designer that sees jewellery as something much deeper then just decoration. When talking about her work, she explains it as being the underlying reference and the key to explaining inspiration. The pieces she creates focus more on aesthetic than a narrative. Although jewellery can tell a tale and can be poetic, she tries to convey emotions rather than tell a story through her work.

Naomi Filmer compares the creation of an object in collaboration with a craftsman, to a dance. Her main theme, the relationship between the body and the space, can be discussed in similar terms; interaction and dance. The metaphor is closely related to Filmer's personal life. Since her early childhood, she has been a dancer and she gave up a professional career only to become an artist.

Her collection 'Breathing Volume' is a series of 4 sculptures. Each of the pieces were given a name. The three plaster sculptures called, Gather, Accumulate, Absorb, and one bronze called Let Go. All four sculptures were designed for the area around the mouth, chin and neck of the human body. These sculptural jewellery pieces were based on the ideas of space and movement, and how we continually change the space we exist in. While we go about or daily lives, our movement can have an effect even when sitting still; the slightest movement of the head, or breathing in and out. She explains it as breathing in the space.

Naomi Filmer takes great inspiration and interest from the different materials in relation to the human body and the relationship or dialog between the two. What Naomi Filmer finds interesting about this relationship of the object and the body is the sensation, not only the material sensation, but also the physical one. This could be seen as the weight of the piece, but also how you wear it, or it wears you, how it moves, and even how it changes and dictates your posture. The relationship between the positive and negative space as well as the presence or absence of the body is key to her work. Most aspects of art Naomi Filmer takes the time to reflect on the between, inside and outside whilst she's creating her spatially aware pieces.

Instead of having the body as a location for the art, Naomi Filmer turned the human figure into a "catalyst" for the shapes and collection. This brings up the question of what is more important, the object you wear, or the person that wears the object.