Crafting Connection: How the Pandemic Sparked Stacy Bias’s Jewellery Journey
The pandemic drove many of us to seek alternative ways to entertain ourselves, calm ourselves during what was an incredibly strange time. For me it was sourdough making and tie dying, but for artist and animator Stacy Bias, it sparked a profound career shift into jewellery making. By Elena Taggart.
I couldn’t help but notice Stacy’s necklace was the same as an illustration on the wall behind her, so I asked her about the piece. Stacy explained, ‘this was from 2016 I think, a practice piece for me. She’s quite layered and there’s so much engraving and texture and lots of stuff happening there. She’s my favourite so I kept her!’
A natural storyteller, Bias has found a new, more personal medium to convey messages of connection and social good, a natural career arc.
‘When the pandemic happened and everybody got so screen weary, I definitely felt drawn to making things more tangibly, making things slower, making things with more connection. I took up embroidery initially as a way to be present. Then when we moved to Glasgow, I took a few jewellery making classes at Vanilla Inc. and just immediately became obsessed. I hadn’t really thought about jewellery as a storytelling medium or as an illustration medium before, but I started to see its potential in that way.’
A Natural Storyteller
Stacy’s creative work has always been driven by a necessity to communicate messages about the greater good and social justice. Her journey began with visual art for community engagement, which naturally led to animation as a tool, a means to an end. Her animation projects are centred around building empathy and awareness, for instance, focus on children’s experiences of forced migration into the UK and women’s experiences of harassment at football games.
‘I discovered animation to be a strong storytelling medium because it was a way to protect participants’ privacy and to build empathy. People’s identities or the way that they present themselves in the world is stigmatised by what people see in them and the message they are trying to convey is missed. Immediately a talking head sharing a lived experience can lose the respect of the viewer because of those stereotypical views. I found animation as a really effective way to bypass those initial reflective stigmata.’
For Stacy, the shift to making tangible objects, like jewellery, became irresistible. Unlike her commissioned animation work, jewellery is a self-directed endeavour, a space that is ‘a bit more mine. I’m not in the rooms when people watch the animation and I don’t witness someone looking at a print, but jewellery is a bit more mine. It’s a bit more embodied. I get to build my own collections. I have really been able to be completely self-directed and that’s really fun.’
Moving Together
The theme for Stacy Bias’s current jewellery collection ‘Murmuration: Moving Together’ is deeply personal. It draws inspiration from her rural upbringing in Portland, Oregon, and her relationship with jewellery, which was formed in the 90s.
‘I grew up in a small town outside of Portland, with a population of about 200. Portland was a big city for me. I remember the day we got the town stop sign. My dad ran the gas station, I used to feed horses on my way to school in the morning, I would pack an apple in my backpack. I had this really rural upbringing in the late 70s, 80s, early 90s, it was a really challenging time to be a queer person. A lot of the queer culture was signifying jewellery, like pride rings or you’d be searching people’s lapels or bags for pink triangles or thumb rings. Anything you could find to signify belonging, connection and safety. So, at that time, my relationship with jewellery was formed through bonding and connection.
‘So, the murmuration theme has always been really profound for me because birds murmurate for protection, to share resources, to show each other where food is to bond as a collective. Their moves are always rolling, a beautiful mesmerising movement as they pay attention to each other. As one bird in the flock moves, they all move. I’ve always been drawn to that as a metaphor, as a way that we can symbolise looking out for one another. Being bonded and connected as people, and how powerful we are when we move together.’
Connection
We have all seen the beautiful shape shifting vision of birds flocking together, I hadn’t realised the motion was called ‘Murmuration’ until now, but what a beautiful metaphor. Stacy’s collection offers a range of pieces at different price points which convey these themes of connection and resonance — available to people regardless of cost. ‘I try to be really intentional about making the themes which are important to me as beautiful as possible.’
For Bias, this is why jewellery is such an effective storytelling medium, but her designs are much more than just adornment; they are a ‘touchstone’. Stacy believes, and I agree, jewellery can also help the wearer make a ‘physiological change,’ helping the wearer ground themselves and stay present during stressful situations. Her detailed ‘Awe Walk’ brooch, for example, was intentionally designed to inspire the wearer to take a moment ‘to be, to breathe, notice, connect, and then go on about your day’.
Sustainability is also a paramount concern for her brand. Stacy uses recycled silver and prioritises either ethically sourced or lab-grown gems. To keep the work accessible, costs are focused on craft, such as engraving, rather than adding multiple stones. ‘Silver prices are 160% higher than they were this time last year, and they’ve gone up more since January, so it’s important to stay accessible to people as an emerging artist while also being fully ethical. My ethos is making sure that I’m ethical. That’s my whole deal.’
Glasgow’s Warmth
While an emerging artist, Stacy’s beautiful designs have gone ‘really well,’ despite the challenging economic climate and rising material costs. Stacy’s designs are available via her website and hopefully soon through local markets. ‘Selling online you miss that connection which is what I want so much. If you’re actually doing the markets and speaking to people face to face, you get live feedback and interaction with the collections.’
Looking at the future, Stacy has her next collection already planned, focused on the theme of ‘wild swimming’. I was delighted to see the intricate detail on one of the early prototype pieces complete with swimmers, tiny ducks and even tinier little fish.
From Portland to Glasgow, I was curious to understand why. ‘We moved to London initially and I had no context for that many people, I used to feed horses on my way to school. I found London to be pretty overstimulating and I didn’t really have any understanding of myself as having ADHD at that time either. My partner had to teach me to stop talking to people when I got off the train. Then they received a job offer at Glasgow University. which is an incredible university, so it wasn’t just a change of pace, it was an exciting opportunity. I just instantly fell in love with the city. It’s a warm place to land.’
I joked for sure that we boast thoroughly warm people, but evidently not a warm climate.
Chasing Joy
‘Glasgow is much like Portland, the population is the same. It’s also very rainy and green, 40 minutes from the sea, 40 minutes from the mountains, it’s very culturally similar.’ Stacy is based in the West End and loves the arts focused creative atmosphere, but also has her studio in the Southside, and thinks this allows a ‘beautiful kind of mix of the best that the city has to offer. I feel like the West End has this really cultural vibe. I feel connected to the cultural aspect of the city, which is so on show here, the streets are adorable’.
I wanted to know if Stacy had any advice to others who were hesitant about starting a brand. ‘That’s such a common experience that hesitation comes from so many different places. I think women suffer from imposter syndrome far more than we need to.
‘We think of starting over or starting something fresh as a new beginning rather than a continuation.’ Which Stacy believes makes starting much more intimidating than it has to be. She challenged her own imposter syndrome by taking stock of everything she had learned from the whole spectrum of her career and life experiences and just applying that to a different medium. Such a fantastic view.
‘I also think that chasing joy is a really important thing to do. So, if there are things in the world that give you joy in the process of doing it, then do that and see what happens with the end result. Wherever you do that thing that makes you feel joyful, that’s how we stay present.’
Thank you, Glasgow
One last observation which I thought was too sweet not to include, and something my English husband also reinforces. ‘When I first started driving in Glasgow, I noticed that every time somebody pulled out in front of me, they put their hazard lights on. I was constantly standing on my brakes thinking, “What’s happening?” I thought cars were breaking down left and right, are they having an accident? I didn’t understand. “What is happening with all the hazard lights here in this city?” And then I realised that when you let somebody in, they put their hazards on to thank you. A little “blink blink”, thank you. It’s so adorable. And so now I’ve started doing it, putting on my hazards. Because now it feels rude not to.’
Stacy Bias Jewellery
stacybiasjewellery.com
@_stacybias
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