Reference: DAVIS001
Title: Touch In and Out
Date: 2015
Author: Lucie Davis
Details: Project loaned from the 'Designer Maker User' permanent exhibition at the Design Museum, London.
Media: Oyster Card Acrylic Nails with RFID chip
Credit: Courtesy of the artist

Description: 1 set of Oyster Card Acrylic Nails with an embedded RFID chip. I got my friend Erin to model them for me and took them for a trial run. And they worked! Having experimented with the idea of engaging with everyday surroundings through this design and my graduate collection I’ve been able to challenge the conventions of jewellery here, creating a witty piece that brings to life daily rituals such as commuting. It pays attention to detail. Furthermore, it offers an intimate and relatable experience, giving the wearer an active role in interaction and interpretation too.

I’ve learnt that there is strength in simplicity. Watching the wearer engage and interact in imaginative ways makes all the trials and tests within this project worthwhile. And even onlookers in the tube asked where they could find some of these nails. It was great to witness people having an interest in them, slowing down for just a moment in rush hour and challenging their perception of the familiar – having an actual, engaging conversation with strangers.

Reference: DAVIS002
Title: Touch In and Out [Sketches]
Date: 2015
Author: Lucie Davis
Details: Project loaned from the 'Designer Maker User' permanent exhibition at the Design Museum, London.
Media: Sketches
Credit: Courtesy of the artist

Description: I start sketching simply with a pen and toy with familiar words, visualising them and then trying to find a simple way to provoke a reaction in people. I take something mundane and re-contextualise the morning commute into the medium of jewellery. And that is part of the essence of my work - to get a fresh sense of perspective and quick wit on something that was initially quite mundane and turn it into something that we now value.

Through this sketch and initial thought process, I wanted to lighten up Londoners a bit on their somewhat dull commutes and re-asses our relationship and attachments with something we spend most of our time doing – being on public transport. I wanted to keep a similar style to the TFL maps. To collage the world of transport and jewellery together and take them to a place they’d never explored together before. I started sketching out packaging and re-working into those everyday throwaway statements that initially inspired the concept of this piece. So, by further exploring that notion of ‘touch’, tactility, and the way we hold everyday objects (oyster cards) in our hands, I have fulfilled my aim to create a wearable which is playful and that stimulates our senses.

I wanted the presentation of the nails to be super simple and instant to understand without a lengthy explanation. Going simpler is always better. I was drawn back to the original rectangular shape of an oyster card and how maybe these nails could be presented in that way. So that you could just easily snap off and wear the nails directly – an express manicure!

Reference: DAVIS003
Title: Touch In and Out [Experiments]
Date: 2015
Author: Lucie Davis
Details: Project loaned from the 'Designer Maker User' permanent exhibition at the Design Museum, London.
Media: Experiments
Credit: Courtesy of the artist

Description: I emailed TFL to ask permission if it was ok to experiment with their oyster card for purposes of my degree show collection and they gave me the green light to go ahead. I spent days figuring out how to magically dissect the RFID chip from the oyster card. It was a true test to my patience. But I had so much desire and will in me to make this idea of creating an oyster card acrylic nail with embedded technology happen, that I just had to keep going and pushing myself through the many “nail-fails”. And with perseverance – I managed to get there in the end. When experimenting with creating this functional fashion piece that has now been presented as a new form of adornment (that also doubles up as an Oyster card), I had to get the technology and the visual element right. It took so many trials and errors. I experimented with oyster cards friends kindly let me have and a lot of false nails too! Ranging from cloudier versions to clear transparent ones. I then hand-painted the nails, made my own template to get a neat curve to paint them and embedded the chip inside one clear acrylic nail for visual clarity. The coil took a lot of effort to get right within such a small surface area.

Reference: DAVIS011
Title: Precious Price Tag Pin
Date: 2016
Author: Lucie Davis
Details: Kiln-fired enamel pins, laser-engraved, silver tie pin back and clutch
Media: Jewellery item
Credit: Courtesy of the artist

Description: I have given these price labels an artistic and monetary value. Furthermore, they are now pins which not only act as a variety of jewellery that is on trend, but also perform a final function – one which is noticeable and more meaningful rather than to be discarded unknowingly, like a price label would often be. Therefore, these price tag pins provide a new home and offer a more valuable purpose to these unassuming stickers of our consumer lifestyles. They can further live as artwork as part of another yet related visual presentation. It blurs the line between it being a conceptual piece of jewellery and functional design. In many ways, the ubiquitous point of sales sticker while small, are wasteful and to some, frustrating. But my pins now have found a proper home for them to live on thereafter – the body. They now have a purpose, are a lot more durable and act as part information, part decoration now. Colour also comes into play here. I think another strength of these pins is the way I have decided to display some of them. By laser-engraving the fruit itself I have also considered and alluded to the future of things - how might things change/develop and maybe for the better? Is it necessary for us to stick stickers and have extra packaging when it’s not needed? Furthermore, it is a new way of brand-visualization/ display of a jewellery idea which I found to be the most exciting part of working throughout this whole series/stringing this idea together – sometimes it amazes me how well technology can work with something so organic.

Reference: DAVIS012
Title: Precious Price Tag Pin [Experiments]
Date: 2016
Author: Lucie Davis
Details: Kiln-fired enamel pins, laser-engraved, silver tie pin back and clutch
Media: Experiments
Credit: Courtesy of the artist

Description: This whole process of experimenting with the kiln and laser-engraver for the first time came as a really amazing surprise for me. I loved the fact that I could merge the unpredictable and traditional enamel making skills with the high-tech precision of a laser-engraver. They turned out to have such a deceptive realism. The mistakes, over-firing, smudges of colour almost identically depicted every flaw, printing spot, crease, every bend that stickers usually have. Although the enamel was such an unpredictable process, I somehow managed to just use these flaws to my advantage when it came to this series of sticker ideas. I started to play with the kilns temperatures, under-firing, over-firing – really becoming quite rebellious in the process.

Reference: DAVIS015
Title: Designer Maker User
Date: NA
Author: Design Museum. Image by Lucie Davis.
Details: Designer Maker User features almost 1000 items of twentieth and twenty-first century design viewed through the angles of the designer, manufacturer and user, including a crowdsourced wall.
Media: Exhibition
Credit: designmuseum.org/exhibitions/designer-maker-user

Description: I have a series of key modern-day artefacts which are like constant companions to me and inspire my practice. From the contents of my handbag, to cleaning utensils or hand-sanitisers - they’re all like random relics unearthed of a new age and unassumingly always lurk in our culture. I like the fact that they will be remnants of today’s history, things which I believe to be treasurable and valuable instead of seemingly mundane or ‘throwaway’. I like paying attention to things that may go unnoticed in our world but have incredible uses and endless potential, so I put them on a pedestal.

Much like the Design museum’s ‘Designer Maker User’ exhibition. They have a wall of almost 500 of extra/ordinary. Things which demonstrate the intimate relationships that we have with them and that shape our lives. They are accessible and identifiable but can be somewhat taken for granted. I like to challenge myself in taking inspiration from them and making these things seem valuable and exciting again. Through ritual and repetition, I study, collect and represent these often-forgotten reminders of consumption in our everyday lives. And offer a spark of freshness and sense of wonder into these present artefacts which mirror our daily interactions and/or social issues. To get us all to re-approach daily routines as something magical, as acts of thoughtfulness and meaningfulness.

Reference: DAVIS016
Title: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
Date: 2007
Author: Susan Jeffers
Details: Whatever you fear, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway will give you the insight and practical tools to push through all your fears and empower you to live the life you always wanted.
Media: Publication
Credit: susanjeffers.com

Description: This book was given to me right before I started my creative journey at Central Saint Martins. This text really helped me turn any moment of apprehension, fear, or comparison into feelings of enthusiasm, drive and excitement. As a creative, all the work you do comes from a place deep within you so it’s hard sometimes to not take things so personally with feedback. But really, any feedback is a gift. I’m now so much more confident when it comes to presenting ideas, I’ve even given lectures in front of hundreds of people and have also lost count of the number of pitches I’ve done with brand. You need to “feel the fear and do it anyway”, trust the process, learn from the mistakes, grow as a result and all good things will follow if you just take that chance or risk. Ultimately, this text taught me that you can stretch your mind above and beyond your most unthought of capabilities. So just be brave, be open to possibility, challenge yourself, really question things, learn to have faith in yourself (a gut feeling is a real one!) and approach experimenting like a creative playground. You will never know where an idea may take you if you don’t just try.

Reference: DAVIS017
Title: My Hands
Date: 2021
Author: Lucie Davis
Details: Artist's hands
Media: Photograph
Credit: Courtesy of the artist

Description: Besides my vital red toolbox and mountain of sketchbooks, an incredible set of tools which I use every day are my hands! It’s often through playing with materials, drawing in my sketchbook, sawing, filing, picking things apart/piecing them back together with my hands that I can often surprise myself and my capabilities. My 10 fingers are the ultimate toolbox, everything I’ve made in this collection is crafted by them. Also, a lot of what I explore is the tension between things that are machine-made/manufactured vs. hand made. The human touch is getting more and more precious as we have entered the digital revolution. And because I get a lot of my inspiration from the everyday performative tasks, I find hands as tools questioning our everyday rituals. We get so caught up in this fast moving/constantly changing everyday experience that we lose meaning in them. Again, it’s tracing our everyday mundane movements, absorbing that familiar imagery, taking it all in and observing with a critical eye and attention to detail. Then building it up in a scrapbook from which I can draw on and then make and play with.

Reference: DAVIS018
Title: Red Toolbox
Date: 2021
Author: Lucie Davis
Details: Metal toolbox and tools
Media: Toolbox
Credit: Courtesy of the artist

Description: Besides my vital red toolbox and mountain of sketchbooks, an incredible set of tools which I use every day are my hands! It’s often through playing with materials, drawing in my sketchbook, sawing, filing, picking things apart/piecing them back together with my hands that I can often surprise myself and my capabilities. My 10 fingers are the ultimate toolbox, everything I’ve made in this collection is crafted by them. Also, a lot of what I explore is the tension between things that are machine-made/manufactured vs. hand made. The human touch is getting more and more precious as we have entered the digital revolution. And because I get a lot of my inspiration from the everyday performative tasks, I find hands as tools questioning our everyday rituals. We get so caught up in this fast moving/constantly changing everyday experience that we lose meaning in them. Again, it’s tracing our everyday mundane movements, absorbing that familiar imagery, taking it all in and observing with a critical eye and attention to detail. Then building it up in a scrapbook from which I can draw on and then make and play with.

Reference: DAVIS019
Title: Sketchbooks
Date: 2021
Author: Lucie Davis
Details: Artist sketchbooks
Media: Sketchbooks
Credit: Courtesy of the artist

Description: Besides my vital red toolbox and mountain of sketchbooks, an incredible set of tools which I use every day are my hands! It’s often through playing with materials, drawing in my sketchbook, sawing, filing, picking things apart/piecing them back together with my hands that I can often surprise myself and my capabilities. My 10 fingers are the ultimate toolbox, everything I’ve made in this collection is crafted by them. Also, a lot of what I explore is the tension between things that are machine-made/manufactured vs. hand made. The human touch is getting more and more precious as we have entered the digital revolution. And because I get a lot of my inspiration from the everyday performative tasks, I find hands as tools questioning our everyday rituals. We get so caught up in this fast moving/constantly changing everyday experience that we lose meaning in them. Again, it’s tracing our everyday mundane movements, absorbing that familiar imagery, taking it all in and observing with a critical eye and attention to detail. Then building it up in a scrapbook from which I can draw on and then make and play with.

Reference: DAVIS020
Title: McDonald's — Pedestrian Crossing
Date: 2010
Author: Dominique Magnusson for TBWA
Details: Zebra Crossing mural and advertisement for McDonald's
Media: Advertisement
Credit: dominique-magnusson.com/mcfries

Description: Good design shouldn’t need an explanation – it just speaks for itself! This image sums up clever design and simplicity for me. It grabs your attention in the best way possible and is functional too – a walking advert. It’s interactive and playful, unexpected, and surprising. The zebra crossing looks like it was made to be fries. I love it when things seamlessly work together in a light-hearted but provocative way. I also get a lot of inspiration by things such as this which blur disciplines.

This image has some wit to it too whilst also getting people to question their daily surroundings. This work was one that encouraged me to challenge my perceptions further and to take a multi-disciplinary approach to my practise. It offers people a different perspective and I hope my work achieves the same with an audience too. I love taking patterns that surround us, those that we have always known yet don’t always notice and I physically work back into them, hand-drawing or replicating them in my own way which ultimately allows for these patterns to emerge as something new and unexpected.

Reference: DAVIS021
Title: Coca-Cola Vase
Date: 2014
Author: Ai Weiwei, Photographer Liidongxu
Details: Han dynasty vase with the Coca-Cola logo brushed on in red acrylic paint.
Media: Advertisement
Credit: wikipedia.org/Ai_Weiwei

Description: For me, this object successfully portrays that familiar/unfamiliarity I like to toy with. It’s simple but also subversive. It’s a piece of contrasts, merging traditional craft with the idea of things that are globally manufactured. It takes something so ubiquitous such as the Coca-cola logo and juxtaposes it with something ancient, precious and historic. It has power in its symbolism. It’s a mark of modernity, an object that makes an impression and calls into question “What are we leaving behind?” I also love how this historical-looking object rethinks purpose and place in our modern world which has too inspired what I like to do within my work as well.