Kaitlyn Derrah: Forest Floor

I find peace, calmness and inspiration when I am out in nature. I grew up in an ever-growing city. With the towering buildings, nature was almost non-existent. What there was was a mere decoration, overlooked amongst the steel and concrete.

For this work, I used an ancient technique of casting molten silver into bundles of natural corn straw to create an organic bark texture. I hand formed copper into domes and lined them with gold leaf to simulate elf cap mushrooms.

Using the corn straw casting technique, I created a cohesive line where every piece is unique. As if you were to pick a piece of bark off the forest floor, I wanted to make each piece feel natural but still have a sense of refinement. I wanted to capture a moment in time and highlight the beauty that nature can bring in something such as a piece of fallen bark.

Kaitlyn Derrah is the winner of the 19th annual National Jewellery Student Competition in 2022, the first from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design.