MUSIC

Joanna Kawecki, editor of Ala Champ Magazine is our first featured artist for "Every Mixtape is a Love Letter" our exhibition for the Melbourne Music Week 2011.



Ala Champfest Magazine Issue 001 from Joanna Kawecki on Vimeo.

Joanna has made a stunning sterling silver ring using Keum-boo, a special Korean technique of silver-gilding, using depletion gilding. Keum-boo (also Kum-Boo or Kum-bu - Korean "attached gold") is an ancient Korean gilding technique used to apply thin sheets of gold to silver, to make silver-gilt. Traditionally, this technique is accomplished by first depleting the surface of sterling silver to bring up a thin layer of fine silver.

24 carat gold  is applied with heat and pressure - mechanical gilding to produce a permanent diffusion bond. Pure precious metals such as gold and silver have a very similar atomic structure and therefore have a good potential for bonding.

Heating these metals to a temperature between 500-700°F increases the movement of the atoms. When pressure is added, this causes an electron exchange at the surface between the two metals, creating a permanent diffusion bond. This diffusion bond occurs far below the soldering temperature for either metal.

"My piece is inspired by the song "After the Rain" by Little Dragon," says Kawecki, citing nature and Scandanavia as other influences for her ring.

"I think it's a bit natural yet a bit edgy."

And I think it's absolutely beautiful. You can see this ring and other musically inspired Jewellery at our exhibition launch on Friday, November 18, 2011 at Corky Saint Clair.

 Interview by Award Winning International Blogger Christopher-Hussein Bril for Corky Blog.