About
Miriam Hanid is best known for her distinctive sculptural silver, which includes functional and purely decorative pieces, mostly inspired by water, movement and the natural world. Using her signature techniques of chasing and engraving, she creates deceptively simple organic and tactile forms together with more complex and detailed vessels, tableware and centrepieces.
She observes and records, in drawings and photographs, the ever-changing permutations and patterns of vegetation, the wind in leaves and across the landscape, and the ebb and flow of tides and rivers, as they evolve through the seasons. This exploration process, sometimes focussed on minute detail, is an essential part of her practice, linking the design with its handmade outcome through a synergistic, heartfelt approach to making.
The final concepts are translated into silver, their form developing further still, as they breathe life into the metal. Miriam enjoys stretching her skills in chasing and repoussé to sculpt deep contours and add definition. She then often enhances her silverware with engraving, introducing intricate detailing that generates further contrast with an eye on the delicate interplay between textures and light.
Miriam imbues all her work with an integrity, attention to detail and craftsmanship which has elevated her silver into the sphere of fine art. Her skills and creative abilities have been recognised, since 2009, via multiple awards for chasing and silversmithing from the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council.
Many of the objects that she creates are the result of commissions and Miriam enjoys this process, and resolving the challenges it sometimes brings, working with clients to bring their visual ideas to life. She has created bespoke silverware for individuals, collectors and organisations including the Victoria & Albert Museum, Eton College, the Goldsmiths’ Company, the National Museum of Wales and the Clothworkers’ Company. A commission for the Late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, 60 years later than her great grandfather’s commission for Her Majesty in 1952, have been a career high point.
Working from her Suffolk studio, Miriam focusses on bespoke commissions, teaching, and the development of a capsule jewellery collection, alongside fine silverware gifts.
