Adorning with Clay: Aliyah Hussain

A workshop series inspiring creativity, skill-development and making-for-wellbeing, Adorning with Clay saw thirteen participants create playful, sculptural ceramic jewellery and contribute to a collaborative piece.

The workshops, led by artist Aliyah Hussain, encouraged participants to examine their own relationships with jewellery and the sounds it can make when moved or worn on the body.

Across a series of five workshops, participants created their own collection, learning new skills working with clay, glazes and pattern, and experimenting with the tools and fastenings required for jewellery-making.

During workshops, jewellery components were arranged on top of a panel connected to contact microphones – the sounds of their movements became the soundtrack to a new Audio-Visual piece created by Aliyah.

Compositions were turned into drawings for an animation, showcasing and documenting everything that was made in the workshops.

Remaining ceramic pieces were stitched into a collaborative textile by participants and exhibited at the National Festival of Making alongside the AV piece.

The two complementary works acted as a collaborative documentation of the project by the artist and participants

Workshops

Workshop 1: Forming shapes

The workshop began with a quick drawing exercise, encouraging participants to be playful in their creativity. This followed with the opportunity to create shapes and forms from coils of clay to make jewellery items such as necklaces, earrings, bangles and brooches.

Tools and materials used: 

  • Clay
  • Rolling Pins
  • Clay Extruders
  • Wooden mats
  • Clay tools

Workshop 2: Encaustic ceramics 

In this session, participants worked with dyed clay to create patterns and textures in flat-rolled slabs, inspired by encaustic ceramics and the Nerikomi technique. These were then cut into shapes to create subtle, patterned components for the jewellery.

Tools and materials used:

  • 5 dyed porcelain clay slabs
  • Rolling Pins
  • Wooden guide sticks for rolling even slabs
  • Shape cutters

Workshop 3: Glazing

The session began by exploring mark-making techniques with brushes and ink, decorating labels to be used as stickers on the jewellery presentation boxes. Participants then used fabric paints to continue making quick, playful marks on fabric pieces ready for the session, working on the collaborative textile piece. Finally, a range of underglazes were used to decorate the jewellery pieces that had been made.

Tools and materials used:

  • Coloured inks
  • Fabric paints
  • Paint palettes
  • Underglazes in various colours
  • Brushes of various sizes

Workshop 4: Composing jewellery

In this session, participants got to grips with the basic techniques of making jewellery, using tools to combine the ceramic pieces with metal fixings, creating earrings, necklaces and more. The jewellery was then presented in gift boxes, finished with previously decorated labels.

Tools and materials used:

  • Long Chain Needle Nose Pliers
  • Needle Cutting Wire Cutters
  • Cotton Cord
  • Earring fastenings
  • Clasps
  • Chain
  • Jump rings in various sizes
  • Crimp Tubes

Workshop 5: Collaborative textiles

In this final workshop, the group turned their leftover ceramic items into textile artworks using embroidery. These individual textile pieces were then joined by Aliyah to create one large collaborative textile piece that was displayed at the National Festival of Making 2022. 

Tools and materials:

  • Embroidery hoops
  • Fabric – painted in previous workshops
  • Needle
  • Threads in various colours
  • Ceramic pieces

About the participants

The workshop participants applied to take part in the series by telling us why they would like to attend – this could have been for reasons of personal and/or professional development.

All materials were provided to the participants, and at the end of the series were gifted to them to continue making at home.

Participants were also given a bursary payment of £100 in recognition of time commitment, travel expenses and possible care arrangements.

 

About Aliyah Hussain

Aliyah Hussain is a multidisciplinary artist whose work crosses the intersection of contemporary art and craft.

Her practice approaches themes found within feminist science fiction literature, geology, and nature, and she works with abstract forms with a focus on pattern, form, and colour.

Collaboration is an important part of her practice and she feels most at home working alongside other people.

Website

I was always waiting for the next workshop. It was very enjoyable to feel, think, design and see the result. Combining the designed jewellery with music was a different and surprising interpretation. Thank you for giving me this happiness and unforgettable feelings.

Workshop participant

My own memories are deeply connected to the sounds of jewellery on the bodies of family and friends, on occasions or just in the actions of the everyday. There is a percussiveness to it, a beat, a rhythm of the day.

Aliyah Hussain, Artist

Photography by Bea Davidson.