Presented by K2 Academy at the Cluster Contemporary Jewellery Fair 2024, Aimée Lee Mackay studied jewellery for 3 years at K2 Academy of Contemporary Jewellery. Her inspiration comes from nature, from being outside and absorbing books about wildlife and plants. She takes joy in the small details; weeds and moss, lichen and tiny insects, often missing the bigger picture - the giant tree on which they crawl, or the pavement from which they grow. She is a wanderer, her pockets full of things found along the way that could inspire her work.

In a world where nature is slowly disappearing she is keen to bring awareness to the more unusual creatures and plants that are at risk of being lost if we continue to do nothing.

The collection of pieces she has been working on recently are inspired by a bagworm moth caterpillar, a tiny creature that builds its home out of found materials that it carries around with it until its ready to pupate. The tiny shapes soldered together to form the ‘Bagworm’ jewellery pieces, recycled from silver scrap and discarded pieces of past projects, represent the wide variety of organic materials collected by the caterpillar.