Gillian E. Batcher, Robin Cassady-Cain, Hyewon Jang, Alexis Kostuk, Edna Milevsky, Jamie Rosario, Aurora Simmons, MinSeo Whee, Brianna Wong, Yuna Zhang
~ ten goldsmiths
Shape of Movement
October 2 - November 8, 2026
The Shape of Movement is a group exhibition with ten goldsmiths based out of Jewel Envy, a shared studio space in Toronto’s west end. With diverse cultural backgrounds, artistic training, and individual practices, we have come together to collectively explore movement as a concept interpreted through the forms created in functional jewellery.
Each artist has contributed wearable-scale pieces, resulting in a collection of 16 original works. These pieces reflect personal interpretations of the theme—whether physical, emotional, or symbolic. Techniques used include traditional fabrication and casting, use of fine metal and stones, and marry more unusual material choices for fine jewellery such as glass, butterfly wings and aluminum.
Individual interpretations include pieces evocative of the diffuse sensory experiences of nature, movement as a transformation of emotion, and implied and kinetic movement, among others. The Shape of Movement invites viewers to consider the physical and metaphorical forms movement can take from the distinct points of view of each maker.
Gillian E. Batcher
Tandum Flight
My “Mini-Me” and I each found wings from the same Monarch butterfly within a couple days of each other on separate walks outside. She and I are together, apart, and always moving, seeing the world in a similar way but she grows and I watch. I made Tandem Flight and Fly Away Home as an ode to my daughter, my mini-me, my heart.
My daughter and I fly in tandem, just like the wings we found. She is made of me, by me, and carries my heart outside my body. There was me, there was me with her, and then she was her own person. We fly together yet are moving apart. Soon she will fly away on her own wings with my heart beating inside her. Our shape and movements through life have been created by each others existence. Where does she begin and I end? Our time being this close won’t last forever but I look forward to the next phase, watching her fly solo, when she outgrows our tandem flight.
Robin Cassady-Cain
Blue Flow
Movement is ephemeral and always changing. As a goldsmith, capturing the shape of movement in metal evokes emotion and change. My work largely (but not exclusively) examines forms, functions, interactions and types of cells of the immune system, extending to red blood cells. The pieces created for The Shape of Movement exhibition are representational of red blood cells and play with scale. Their slightly amorphous shapes and random arrangements evoke their flow in the body. The amorphous and organic forms I use are representative of the heterogenous and changing dynamics of the cells of the immune system, as well as the responses they carry out in infection and disease. The colours, finishes and shapes convey movement, dynamism and depth.
Hyewon Jang
Geometric Colour Play
My brooch captures the nostalgic joy and whimsical balance of childhood mobiles. By translating kinetic movement into a wearable sculpture, I combined bold, simple geometry with rich color palettes.
Handcrafted using non-precious metals such as dixgold and colored aluminum sheets, the piece creates a lively interaction between space, structure and playful memories of childhood.
Alexis Kostuk
Inward Spiral
I use walking to move through intensity. To sort through emotions and parse where I am feeling them in my body. Stones collected along a walk become surfaces for recording what something felt like in my body. Sharp, bright, emanating… tangled, tight, tense. I began etching into the surface of each rock as a way of placing those sensations outside of myself. This process allow me to create a physical trace of something that was once internal; now external where it can be acknowledged and examined.
Edna Milevsky
Drift
I explore movement as both process and form. Inspired by seaweed and natural materials shaped by the ocean, I formed this pendant from a single continuous length of wire, allowing the line to flow uninterrupted into an organic composition. As the piece is viewed from different angles, new relationships emerge, inviting the eye to follow its rhythmic curves. Movement is embedded in every stage of its creation. Each curve is shaped by my hand, while the rhythmic chased pattern is created through the repeated movement of my hammer. This deliberate cadence becomes part of the design, echoing the rhythms of waves and the gradual shaping of forms by water over time.
Pearls are used prominently in this piece. By sanding these jewels of the ocean I expose their inner concentric growth patterns, revealing nature’s own quiet geometry. Their repeating structure echoes the rhythmic forms throughout the piece while providing moments of pause within the flowing composition.
Like the shoreline shaped by each passing tide, Drift reflects the beauty of continual transformation and the enduring traces left by nature, time, and my hand.
Jamie Rosario
Susurrus
Shaped by wind and articulated by sensory experiences, this body of work centers around movements, sounds, textures, and delicate lines of tall grass using forged wire as its sole medium. Each piece of jewellery is constructed from chain links—integrated into the design of forged grass blades to facilitate movement when worn.
Susurrus earrings are site specific, attuned to the rustling of grass as it whispers softly in the wind, gently coaxing the wearer to listen intently.
Bracelets Swathe I and Swathe II utilise the hands and wrists as narrative sites for establishing a connection with nature through touch. Serving as a visualization of expansive tallgrass fields moved by currents of wind, each bracelet prompts the wearer to imagine what it might be like to skim over or comb through the grass with their hands.
Aurora Simmons
Tides
When I think of movement I think of water. The great power of the rolling waves, the gentle lap of ripples. The way it can move us and lift us up as we float. I think of great power and great calm.
I also think of the transmutation of depth into the sparkle of a splashing wave as it catches the light and refracts it into a million tiny gems.
This piece captures the movement and the transformative power of water. The labradorite cabochon holds deep complex depths and as the wires curve around the neck they break like waves into a sparkle of refracted light in the faceted gemstones.
MinSeo Whee
Born In Winter, Lit by Seven
These two works: Born in Winter, Lit by Seven and The Moon Within the Sun, explore how memories of two individuals are translated into the forms of season, light, number, and celestial bodies. Here, movement does not refer to a visible motion, but to the transformation through which an emotion is conveyed through a physical form.
At first glance, the pendants appear to be simple pieces of fine jewellery, yet each one contains the story of a memory connected to a particular presence. Their meanings are neither fully explained nor fixed so that the viewer can reflect on their own memories and relationships as they interpret them through these pieces.
Brianna Wong
Breakaway
Shaped as a stylized wing, Breakaway uses flowing lines, colour, translucency, and chain links to create movement and capture my journey as an artist. Through a combination of techniques I have previously mastered and new ones I am currently learning this piece is my transition from independent skills to cohesive explorations in my craft practice. This piece is the first complete work where I have combined my glasswork with goldsmithing.
Breakaway is the first step in spreading my wings as a multidisciplinary artist. Worn close to the heart, it is a culmination of my past experiences and a representation of who I am now and who I am turning into.
Yuna Zhang
Balance in Motion
Balance in Motion explores movement through rotation and the changing relationships between the symbols, materials, and form. The brooch is built in three layers: an upper layer presenting the yin-yang symbol; a middle layer representing the Five Elements (五行)—wood, water, metal, fire, and earty; and a supporting base layer. The two upper layers rotate independently, creating new alignments and compositions with each turn.
Within these systems, balance is not fixed. It develops through cycles of interaction and transformation. The rotating structure makes this process tangible, creating a different moment of balance as the layers are moved.
Each of the Five Elements is represented by a different material: wood for wood, resin for water, brass for metal, flocking for fire, and cement for earth. On the upper layer, laser-cut acrylic forms are sealed with resin to create artist-made “gemstones.” They are secured in place using an experimental riveted setting. As the layers turn, the brooch moves through a series of temporary compositions, with each arrangement presenting one moment in an ongoing cycle of change.