A review of the Dundee University / Duncan of Jordanstone Degree Show 2022, featuring a single sentence about Above The Law. Linked while it’s still archived, as they also show the image from the previous page! Look, Mum! I’m a real artist!

“Claire (CL) Gamble creates what looks like a jewellery brand, Cyclica, made with rocks she found on beaches in lockdown. Its “2027 Summer Collection” comes along with an imagined political context told through the lens of a lifestyle magazine (Dundee is a beacon of rebellion in an ultra-Tory “United Albion”).”

By Susan Mansfield 23rd May 2022

(I guess Dundee University’s PR team, who didn’t give me enough notice to attend press day, didn’t pass on my preferred pronoun).

The thing is…

Cyclica and Forte ARE real jewellery brands. I have traded at The Yard, Dundee and there was jewellery available for sale at the degree show. You can buy my upcycled jewellery in a gift boxes with the branding and a “certificate of authenticity” which will absolutely, 100% guaranteed* make my work worth more in the event I’m shot in a protest.

…or you can just get a bargain piece of jewellery made from second hand materials.

I buy the brand new headpins, earring hooks and lobster clasps from people decluttering their craft supplies on Facebook Marketplace, from Scrapstores and charity shops etc.

All of the pieces feature semi-precious stones because I like the metaphor that some lives are seen as less valuable than others.