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All Outputs (29)

The future is a work in progress (2024)
Exhibition / Performance
Boons, S. The future is a work in progress. [Exhibition]. Exhibited at Lancaster. 7 March 2024 - 15 March 2024. (Unpublished)

A collaborative exhibition as the partners shared the culmination of five years dedicated pursuit of knowledge, funded through a groundbreaking E3 initiative by Research England in 2019. During this time four centres of design-research excellence acr... Read More about The future is a work in progress.

BBC Free Thinking Episode: Victorian Colour, Jewellery and Metalwork (2023)
Digital Artefact
Boons, S. (in press). BBC Free Thinking Episode: Victorian Colour, Jewellery and Metalwork. [Radio Broadcast]

Man-made gems are the subject of research being undertaken by jeweller Sofie Boons. She joins presenter Nandini Das alongside Matthew Winterbottom, the curator of an exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford which explores the explosion of colour... Read More about BBC Free Thinking Episode: Victorian Colour, Jewellery and Metalwork.

The alchemical dream of man-made gemstones (2023)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2023, September). The alchemical dream of man-made gemstones. Presented at Intergem, Idar Oberstein Germany

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made crystals now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not fully translated to the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made crystals hav... Read More about The alchemical dream of man-made gemstones.

Intergem Fair display (2023)
Exhibition / Performance
Boons, S. Intergem Fair display. 28 September 2023 - 1 October 2023. (Unpublished)

During the Intergem Fair 2023 the pieces created in collaboration with Brevalor were displayed by the stand 'Klein & Becker'.

The alchemical dream and reality of man-made gemstones: A review of 10 stones (2023)
Digital Artefact
Boons, S. The alchemical dream and reality of man-made gemstones: A review of 10 stones. [Blog post]

Through the exploration of 10 stones, I will reflect on our fascination with gemstones and our attempts at creating them. I will outline some of the techniques used to grow them, what a crystal is and what they are used for; from jewellery to electro... Read More about The alchemical dream and reality of man-made gemstones: A review of 10 stones.

Laboratory grown colour and gems (2023)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2023, March). Laboratory grown colour and gems. Presented at Colour Day 2023, University of the West of England

The search for, wearing and collecting of gemstones has been a popular endeavour for many decades. For most gemmologists, jewellers and gemstone collectors, the crushing of a stone would be the greatest sin. For painters or those who create pigments... Read More about Laboratory grown colour and gems.

Testing grounds - The SIM project (2022)
Exhibition / Performance
Menger, F. Testing grounds - The SIM project. [Photography]. 10 November 2022 - 31 January 2023. (Unpublished)

Exploring how the SIM card shapes a sense of security, identity and community, the project disrupts the automated nature of the smartphone to create unique, wearable artworks, stamped with QR codes. Exhibition of SIM card size glass plate photographs... Read More about Testing grounds - The SIM project.

The SIM Project (2022)
Exhibition / Performance
Boons, S., Menger, F., & Hingley, L. The SIM Project. 15 September 2022 - 21 January 2023. (Unpublished)

The installation features SIM artworks created with over 100 participants from countries including Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Senegal and Libya at workshops held in the UK, Greece, Finland and Cyprus. The SIM artworks are d... Read More about The SIM Project.

Crystal growing design method: An investigation into the growing of crystals for jewellery designs (2022)
Journal Article
Boons, S. (2022). Crystal growing design method: An investigation into the growing of crystals for jewellery designs. Craft Research, 13(2), 303-326. https://doi.org/10.1386/crre_00081_1

Grown crystals are used for a range of novel innovations supporting a wide array of industries such as technology, medicine and electronics. Within the jewellery industry however, grown crystals are only used in a limited capacity and those of gemsto... Read More about Crystal growing design method: An investigation into the growing of crystals for jewellery designs.

The alchemical dream of man-made crystals (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2022, April). The alchemical dream of man-made crystals. Presented at LANS Lab Seminar, Birmingham University

Contemporary jewellers are considered artists of the miniature sentiment and crafters of the wearable statement. Outside the realm of status and commodity, jewellery can be used to visualise the intangible and conceptual, creating objects and adornme... Read More about The alchemical dream of man-made crystals.

Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2022, January). Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use. Paper presented at 16th International Conference on Design Principles and Practices, University of Newcastle, Australia

This paper reports on the history and use of man-made crystals for jewellery in a contemporary context. The cross-disciplinary contextual review traces human fascination with gemstones back centuries, and covers key developments in their ‘imitation’.... Read More about Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use.

Man-made crystals for jewellery (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, December). Man-made crystals for jewellery. Presented at Future Materials Conference, Birmingham

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made crystals now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not translated into the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made crystals have re... Read More about Man-made crystals for jewellery.

Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, December). Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery. Paper presented at IASDR 2021: The ninth Congress of the International Association of Societies of Design Research, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made gems now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not translated into the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made gems have remained l... Read More about Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery.

Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use (2021)
Journal Article
Boons, S. (2021). Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use. International Journal of Design in Society, 15(2), 63-71. https://doi.org/10.18848/2325-1328/cgp/v15i02/63-71

This paper reports on the history and use of man-made crystals for jewelry in a contemporary context. The cross-disciplinary contextual review traces human fascination with gemstones back centuries, and covers key developments in their "imitation."Th... Read More about Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use.

Man-made crystals (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, October). Man-made crystals

As a self-proclaimed alchemical jeweller Sofie Boons will trace her practice and obsession with scents, substances and science followed by an insight into her current PhD investigation into the design implications, possibilities, and limits of utilis... Read More about Man-made crystals.

Man-made crystals (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, October). Man-made crystals

Sofie Boons, Research Associate and Craft Council Research Fellow of the UWE Bristol will start our discussions about stones by presenting her PhD research project next Wednesday in our first roundtabel. Sofie Boons is investigating the design impli... Read More about Man-made crystals.

Touch: Reflections on making - a crafted digital event (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S., Fahy, N., & Ho, W. (2021, September). Touch: Reflections on making - a crafted digital event. Paper presented at The Image, Twelfth International Conference, Lisbon, Portugal

This paper reports on the online symposium titled Touch: Reflections on Making developed between the Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) at the University of the West of England and the UK Crafts Council in December 2020. The event addressed the th... Read More about Touch: Reflections on making - a crafted digital event.

Man-made crystals (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, August). Man-made crystals. Paper presented at Nordes 2021: Matters of Scale, Kolding

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made crystals now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not translated into the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made crystals have re... Read More about Man-made crystals.

Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers (2021)
Journal Article
Boons, S. (2021). Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers. FORMakademisk, 14(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.4190

Grown crystals are used for a range of novel innovations supporting a wide array of industries. Within the jewellery industry however, grown crystals are only used in a limited capacity and mainly as a surrogate for mined gemstones. This paper invest... Read More about Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers.