A Staffordshire jewellery designer has won an international award after showcasing her work at New York’s Wearable Art Museum.
Ellina Pollitt, a University of Staffordshire graduate originally from Russia who now lives in Biddulph, was presented with the WAM Luminary Award during her visit to the museum, which is dedicated to exhibiting, exploring and celebrating wearable art, studio jewellery, textiles and costume.
Ellina specialises in wearable fashion, using different metals to create bold and innovative designs.
The WAM Luminary Award honours artists and advocates in the field of studio jewellery and textiles, and was presented by Lisa M. Berman, wearable art expert and founder of WAM.
Ellina’s work has previously been recognised with numerous awards, including winning the Laser Technology category of the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Awards.
She said: “My recent trip to New York felt like a real turning point, one of those moments that stays with you long after you’ve returned home.
“Throughout the week, I met and conversed with collectors, curators, and fellow artists who connected instinctively with the work, responding to colour, movement, and scale. Befitting of New York’s personality, jewellery doesn’t have to whisper, it can be confident, expressive, and unapologetically itself.
“Awards are wonderful, but it is experiences like this that reinforce the direction and meaning to my art. This trip reminded me that there is space internationally for jewellery that sits between art, fashion, and engineering, and that following your intuition matters.”
