About Foundry Collection.
Foundry Collection is the jewellery practice of artist Suzanne Curran. As an artist, teacher and maker her work has been rooted in ethical practice, collaboration and storytelling. With Foundry Collection Suzanne incorporates these values with sustainable sculpture, bridging her contemporary art practice with craft and wearable form.
At the heart of the collection is a simple idea: transformation. Foundry Collection explores how something overlooked can become something treasured, while remaining true to the values of reuse, intention, and longevity.
The Foundry Collection Story.
Suzanne’s intention was to explore Newcastle’s Industrial heritage - it’s past, present, and transformation - while staying true to her values of sustainability and reuse. This led her to Newcastle Foundries, one of the city’s oldest businesses, established in 1890.
Specialising in ferrous and non-ferrous castings, the foundry has supplied essential components to industries across the region for generations. Suzanne expained her vision to make a sustainable jewellery collection from industrial waste. It was here at the foundries Suzanne discovered the beautuful bi product of the industrial bronze casting process, in the form of bronze metal ‘spill’.
Each piece starts as an irregular bronze form. Suzanne collects the fragments, then transforms them through vision and craft, carefully shaping and finishing each piece while preserving its organically formed appearance.
One of a Kind Sculpture Jewellery.
Because these shapes are created by chance and handsculpted, no two are ever alike. There is no mould and no replication, only singular forms shaped by the industrial process then refined through Suzanne’s artistic practice.
Foundry Collection pieces are designed as wearable sculpture: objects that hold texture, history, and evidence of their origin. The raw cast-off metal form remains present, but becomes wearable, balanced, and finished for everyday life.
Authentic Sustainability.
Sustainability is not a marketing layer for Foundry Collection, it’s the foundation. The work begins with reclaimed material, giving new purpose to fragments that would otherwise be treated as waste. This approach keeps production small, considered, and connected to the source.
Packaging is designed to be practical and gift-ready, using eco-conscious materials where possible - small batch sewn, protective velvet pouches, kraft paper bags and eco boxes, plus a hand written note from Suzanne, each piece arrives safely and beautifully presented.
Suzanne’s practice has long explored how people respond to their environment and surroundings. Human interaction sits at the centre of her work: not only in how her objects are seen, but how they are touched, worn, and lived with.
The collection’s cast-off forms, repurposed into jewellery, hold an inherent history that is continued through use, wear, and storytelling.
About the artist: Suzanne Curran.
Suzanne Curran studied Fine Art at St. Martins School of Art (London), later completing a Master’s in Fine Art (Multimedia), and a Postgraduate Certificate of Education from Cardiff Metropolitan University. Her exhibition history is rooted in her practice as an artist, with stalls for her retail work also functioning as exhibition spaces. These spaces allow her to share her work directly with the public, creating an ongoing dialogue between maker and viewer.
Her jewellery has also been featured on National Welsh Television drama ‘Bregus’.
Stockists
Foundry Collection jewellery is stocked at Newcastle Art Gallery Shop.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Foundry Collection?
Foundry Collection is jewellery sculpture by Suzanne Curran made from reclaimed bronze spill created during industrial casting at Newcastle Foundries (est. 1890), refined into one-of-a-kind wearable sculpture.
Why is each piece one of a kind?
Each piece retains its organic spilled form and is hand-refined by Suzanne.
Where is Foundry Collection stocked?
Foundry Collection jewellery is stocked at Newcastle Art Gallery Shop.