In Conversation With… Katy Mason

Katy Mason, Fragile Rage, 2023

Katy Mason makes striking creations out of objects that might conventionally be perceived as rubbish, but have been turned into works of art.

Mason studied Fashion Design at Nottingham Trent University, where she found that the intuitive element of draping (a process of creating a pattern by positioning and pinning fabric in different ways on a mannequin) came more naturally to her than the more rigid flat pattern cutting. It was in Berlin, where Mason lived between 2018 and 2020, that she began to see value in using the discarded objects she found all around her as material for fashion. Along with her two friends Sophie Ruane and Jasmine Febbraro, Mason would prowl the streets for bin bags full of clothes and bits of scrap that could be used to create their quirky designs. As this hobby came to fruition, the trio founded the up-cycling clothes brand Soup Archive, which is still running today.

Although she still collaborates with Soup Archive, Katy, now back in the UK, has moved away from clothes and into jewellery making and sculpture. Taking influence from her fashion background, she describes her craft as ‘object draping’ due to its improvisational nature. Mason has just come to the end of her year’s studio residency at Sarabande Foundation and is moving to a new studio at World’s End on the King’s Road.

What design processes do you use?

There’s no real plan as to what I’m going to do, it’s led by the stuff I find. I do this thing called ‘fragile rage’, which comes from the idea that we all have conflicting feelings inside us. The process starts when you take a hammer to an object, like electrical equipment, and break it all apart to see what’s inside. Then, once you’ve got the rage out, the fragile part is being sensitive and piecing it back together in different forms. It taps into that childlike state, that part of your brain you were encouraged to lose when you grew up.

What tools and techniques do you use?

It’s a mixture of sewing, which involves taking materials from fashion like eyelets, and woodwork, so screws and drills. It’s kind of basic assembly work. The jewellery is quite a lot of wire instead of stitching.

What attracted you to jewellery making? 

I’m not a jeweller. I don’t know how to make jewellery. It’s more wearable art than jewellery.

The point of it is to question how we value things. The idea that jewellery can only be precious metals or rare gem stones is constructed. Why not just pick anything up, wear it, and make it become your jewel? I think for a lot of people, when they actually think about it, there is value in the things you find at the bottom of your drawer that have been sitting there for ages and you can’t quite bring yourself to get rid of. So why isn’t that your earring?

Where do you find your materials?

A mixture of charity shops and donations. I have this friend who buys all this old electrical equipment with the view that he’s going to fix it, and he never does, so he just gives it all to me. He’s given me so much stuff. But charity shops are pretty good. You can find some gems there.

For me, it’s way less daunting to have limitations when you’re designing or making. Otherwise you could literally go anywhere. You can order fabrics from anywhere in the world and, apart from it being really bad for the planet, I just think that’s stressful. I’d rather know that I can only use the stuff here.

How do you market yourself? 

If I’m going to sell, its mainly directly through my studio (so on my website or private orders.) Although I do sometimes sell through platforms such as Bleaq, Fabootique! and 50m – community based platforms run by dedicated designers and friends.

I have also done a couple of workshops this year with Sarabande Foundation and Orsola De Castro; it’s something I want to do more of.

Do you have any daily work rituals? 

I like to close the blind so there’s no window and then put music on really loud.

Katy Mason, 2023

Anything in particular?

Something really techno-y. But then, it goes through phases. You know when you have phases of music and it’s so intense that you can’t remember what you were listening to before? I’m listening to a lot of techno right now.

Describe a typical day…

The morning is probably my sweet spot – on a good day, if I’m not hungover. I kind of just dance around and see what’s about, picking stuff up and then, as I’m making, put stuff on, see what works, take photos, take videos. This probably only lasts for about two or three hours, that real hype, because I can’t do that all day. Later on, it might be more about honing in on one piece.

I also do a lot of walking. Really fast walking.

“Why not just pick anything up, wear it, and make it your jewel?”

- Katy Mason

Which three words best describe your studio?

Organised-chaos, instinctive.

You’re going to be making Christmas decorations for your workshop at Cadogan – what would your ideal Christmas tree look like?

We should do a trash tree – just get some crisp packets, put some eyelets on them and hang them up.

How can the future of design and fashion become more sustainable?

We don’t need to buy more. There’s enough stuff in the world. There’s a façade in the fashion industry, or any kind of production industry, that buying more stuff is how you build your identity. And that buying things will make you happy and fulfilled. But it’s just the opposite of that. That kind of concept is quite hollow and it doesn’t provide any sort of solace, really.

Obviously it’s about sustainability and being able to sustain ourselves as a planet, but also, at a time like this, when everyone’s talking about the financial situation, resourcefulness comes into play. Everyone has to tap into any kind of resourceful bone in their body and either learn it or get better at it, because that’s how we survive, isn’t it?

This article was written and published by Hole & Corner. Visit their website here.