The daughter of a biologist, Deborah’s interest in the natural world was ignited at an early age.
Following previous careers in TV drama production and as a personal trainer, her jewellery making journey began more recently. After studying for a Diploma at The Manchester College, graduating with a distinction and a special award for creativity, Deborah now combines her environmental concerns with her silver and plastic-smithing skills to create sustainable wearable art, from recycled metals and discarded waste materials.
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In 2021, Deborah was selected for Rising Stars at the New Ashgate Gallery and Getting Started Spotlighting at The Goldsmiths’ Centre. Following on from this, Deborah was selected for Shine 22, also with The Goldsmiths’ Centre and was shortlisted for a Professional Jeweller ‘Collections of the Year Award 2022’ for Plasticity. Deborah rounded off the year with selection for Cluster Contemporary, exhibiting in London. Deborah’s innovative work has also exhibited at galleries including Manchester City Art Gallery, Leeds Craft and Design Gallery and Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow. She recently held her first solo show at Globe Arts Studio, Huddersfield. Deborah regularly exhibits at contemporary crafts events around the country including Handmade Chelsea, GNCCF, Lustre, The Hepworth Gallery Makers Fair and Art & York, where she won the Jan and David Roberts’ Emerging Maker prize. Deborah’s jewellery has featured in the BBC dramas Death in Paradise, In the Club and London Kills.
Inspired by the impact of human activity on the planet, Deborah Beck’s Plasticity Collection is an environmentally conscious jewellery range fabricated from recycled metals and discarded waste materials.
To create these sustainable and striking wearable art pieces, Deborah collects single-use plastic litter which she finds on her daily walks along the river with her two Spanish rescue dogs. She recycles this entirely by hand in her home studio, creating her own repurposed raw material which she refines and sets in recycled silver structures, inspired by the straight lines and shapes of human industry. Elegant and sculptural, the collection elevates the un-wanted into high-end contemporary jewellery without the high cost to the earth.
If you’d like to find out more about Deborah and her growing collection of work you can visit her at a number of events or see more of her jewellery in the online shop
