Soil is the beginning of all things. It nourishes life, anchoring it to place, memory, and identity. In Grounded, emerging jewellery artist Vivian Qiu explores the quiet power of land: how it shapes the cultures that grow upon it, and how it shapes us.

Qiu reflects on her Chinese ancestry and the many places that have held her. Some works speak of where she lives now, others reach back to landscapes she once called home. Her jewellery looks both forward and back, tracing a path through time and terrain. Many of the pieces incorporate oracle bone script (甲骨文), the earliest known form of Chinese writing, used more than three thousand years ago. These characters were etched into bone to divine the future for rulers and empires. In Qiu's work, they whisper across time, joining with soil, grass, and rice to become something newly wearable. The rice clay she uses echoes the traditional mortar that holds together the Great Wall of China, a subtle nod to endurance, ingenuity, and connection. In this meeting of old and new, Qiu gathers fragments of heritage and place, pressing them gently into form.

Exhibition date: 15.08.25 - 16.11.25

Venue: Hamilton Gallery