Polly Horwich

Describing myself as a research-based narrative designer and maker is something of a mouthful, yet it describes accurately the practice I have refined over the last two years. I explore concepts through language, visual and material studies and am interested in how to communicate ideas most effectively. Alongside different media, I subvert the familiar and use humour to ‘get under the skin’ of everyday preconceptions. I like particularly the outward-looking ‘why not?’ approach that encourages lateral exploration of design ideas and innovation.

Embracing a range of technologies beyond the confines of traditional jewellery and metalwork, I choose the most appropriate media for each project to communicate my ideas. For example, my concept for Origin (2011) explored caged structures as jewellery, drawing inspiration not only from my background as an architect but also from contemporary events around the Jubilee celebrations and London Olympics. References included the Crown Jewels, the Thames and Olympic structures. An encouraging critical response led to the AJC Prize, an invited display in Canary Wharf and sales through The Lesley Craze Gallery.  In contrast, my project for RCA Year One investigated the abstraction 'Sparkle', defining it in terms of an entertaining set of tools to putatively enable perception and analysis.

All makers find a new project exciting and challenging. I have enjoyed sharing my methods and enthusiasm with undergraduates through a teaching workshop, which I designed and led recently at another school.  The experience was both stimulating and rewarding, confirming my desire to include teaching in my career portfolio. Primarily though, I plan to undertake both commissioned and exhibition-based projects. I will seek opportunities to apply my design concepts, my experience of a broad technology range and my communication skills to both surprise and inform, and I have the belief that this can generate a pathway of design progression.