The Scottish Gallery welcomes back Catherine Martin for the Edinburgh Art Festival 2018. Designer-goldsmith Catherine Martin was the first ever westerner to graduate in Kumihimo – the ancient Japanese art of braiding. She later developed the Asian art into a painstaking weaving of fine gold wire by hand.

The resulting silken jewels are breathtaking in their sensual play of light and form. As a professional musician and singer, Martin allows the fluidity of music to influence her pieces. Each design element flows with finesse from her instinctive response to sound and rhythm. Displaying a subtle sheen, somewhere between matt and shine, and an ancient, meditative quality, her jewels possess an intensity which contrasts with their softness and intricacy.

'Catherine Martin’s jewels sing softly with the beauty of her modulated palette of materials. In this new collection, she explores the use of semi-precious stones, each sensitively chosen to resonate with the gold and platinum alloys selected for their hues and tonal qualities', Dr Elizabeth Goring, 2018.