Form, material and making

I'm Jasmin Rowlandson, an artist and maker based between London and Suffolk, with my main studio in Suffolk. I work across jewellery, ceramics and sculpture, with the same instinct for form running through each—from the curve of a bowl to the molten contours of a ring.

I'm drawn to the growth of coral, lichen, moss and fungi, to unfurling flowers and the small worlds beneath fallen branches. The sea holds a particular pull. Swimming far out is pure joy—a sense of freedom and absorption. Living away from it, that longing enters my work through imagined underwater worlds, organic forms and the movement of water.

What holds my practice together is a love of materials and their transformation. I begin with an idea, but leave room for it to change as I work. The process is slow; the decisions are often spontaneous. Fire brings colours and textures I can guide but never entirely predict.

I come from a family of artists, poets and jewellers. My great-aunt, Nevin Holmes, was a pioneering jeweller, painter and printmaker whose work was exhibited internationally. My Turkish heritage connects me to that history of making, journeys and displacement. After Nevin died, I inherited some of her jewellery tools, including a patterned bar I use to impress texture into wax. I work with wax much as I would with clay, allowing those inherited marks to become part of new forms. That continuity shapes my understanding of an heirloom: something held close, used and passed on.

I came to jewellery through clay, bringing a sculptor’s sensibility to traditional silversmithing and in-house casting. I sculpt, cast and finish each piece in recycled gold and silver, working with sapphires, garnets, pearls and diamonds, natural and lab-grown, each chosen for the piece. Each piece is made individually, allowing the variations of the hand to remain visible. No two are the same. Molten textures and gemstones give the jewellery a talismanic quality, recalling ancient objects while feeling distinctly contemporary.

My ceramics range from wheel-thrown and handbuilt functional pieces to delicate fronded paperclay sculptures. Every element of each sculpture is handbuilt. Glazes shift in the kiln and some pieces are finished with gold. Painting extends my exploration of colour, rhythm and natural forms.

I graduated in ceramics from Camberwell College of Arts in 2005 and have worked as a professional artist ever since, beginning with delicate, fronded paperclay sculptures. I've exhibited at Collect at the Saatchi Gallery and Goldsmiths' Fair, and received grants from the Crafts Council and Arts Council. In collaboration with Haberdashery, I developed and hand-crafted porcelain leaves for bespoke lighting installations in architectural spaces around the world.

I undertake commissions in jewellery and ceramics, working with clients to develop individual pieces within the character of my practice.

I make objects to become part of everyday life: a ring that feels at home on the hand, a bowl reached for each morning, a sculpture that keeps drawing the eye. Pieces to cherish, live with and pass on.