Skye's Glass Ring

Skye bought this rings from a market stall in London in 2010, simply because she liked it. Out one night, a little tipsy, she hit her hand on a steel bench top and chipped the ring. Skye expresses real concerns about our 'use and chuck' society. She carries with her at all times reusable cutlery, a cup and straw so that she never has to resort to one-use plastics. She worries about problems of ocean pollution where fish are dying from ingesting micro-particle petrochemical plastics.

Kyoko Hashimoto responded to the object owner’s concerns, and while Hashimoto often uses plastics in her work she wanted to repair the ring without them. This extended to not using glues, many of which come from the same fossil fuel sources as plastics. In the 20th century, in the period prior to the development of petrochemical adhesives, there were many pairings of materials in repair craft that may now seem strange or incongruous – the use of metal staples to repair broken ceramics is a notable example. Inspired by this, Hashimoto repaired the ring by designing a tension set silver sleeve to bridge the broken ends of glass and protect it from further damage. The sleeve is fashioned in the style of fish scales, referencing Skye’s concern for the inhabitants of the ocean.

Design Repairer: Kyoko Hashimoto

Kyoko is an internationally recognised contemporary jewellery designer. A graduate of the College of Fine Arts (UNSW Art & Design) in Sydney, she has operated studios from Tokyo, Eindhoven, and later Berlin where she opened the concept store We Are All Made of Stuff in the suburb of Neukölln. In 2014 and 2015, Kyoko was Production Manager and Resident Artist in the Metal Design Studio at Adelaide’s JamFactory. Kyoko makes one off and limited edition jewellery and objects with an emphasis on thematic investigation and expression. Her desire for a piece of jewellery to carry a story in a form of a concept or materiality is often imbued with a sense of humour.

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Skye's Glass Ring. Repaired by Kyoko Hashimoto. Photos by Lee Grant. Image copyright Hotel Hotel.