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Gill Wing Jewellery hosts ‘Mushroom World’ by Martina Kocianova at their Islington gallery. The psychedelic installation combines mycelium with engraved precious metals and gems in jewellery and sculpture.

Meet Martina for an artist’s talk on Thursday 11 May, where you are invited to wear your most colourful outfit to try on some jewels with a celebratory drink.

Martina‘s joyful and fantastical jewellery will be showcased at Gill Wing Gallery in Islington over the course of London Craft Week. Her use of traditional jewellery techniques such as hand engraving and lapidary combined with colours and innovative materials brings a unique approach to the world of jewellery. Drawing inspiration from her childhood when her mother often took her mushroom foraging, Martina’s pieces reinterpret childhood memories and fairytales into jewellery that carry symbolic meanings and become creatures on their own. Serving as an extention of the body they sit proudly on the ears, fingers and neck and become a new part of the person who is wearing them. Martina‘s childhood passion in mushroom foraging translates into her later use of mushroom mycelium in her jewellery pieces and installations.

We invite you to take part in exploring the world of symbolism of mushrooms and fairytales through jewellery during London Craft Week at Gill Wing Gallery. Come and try on the playful jewellery pieces by Martina and see the mushroom installation as well as other unique jewellery pieces made by independent jewellery designers. Moroever we invite you to a talk on Thursday the 18th at Gill Wing Gallery where Martina will closely explain the processes of her jewellery practise and will take a close look at her inspirations through her sketchbooks, collages and metalwork. She will showcase many of her mushroom samples and processes she uses to create jewellery set with mushrooms and how she believes the use of the mushroom mycelium can be part of future of the jewellery design. Don’t miss a chance to try on the jewellery piece and choose your own mushroom inspired jewellery creature at Gill Wing Gallery.