Arts and Literature

Jewellery artist Sarah O’Hana is currently working towards a PhD and likes working with titanium, which oxidises when heated with a laser, producing different colours, so to make her designs, she’s had to learn how to work one of the University of Manchester’s lasers and get some specialist help from a fellow artist, keen painter and University engineer Professor Andrew Gale, who’s provided a link of understanding between the worlds of art and science.

Sarah O'Hana

"As I am not an engineer, finding an appropriate supervisor was not straightforward," says Sarah. "Professor Gale has helped me fit into his department and enabled me to step into the right direction to connecting contemporary jewellery design with a different discipline.

"It became very evident that he would be needed to understand the mindset and why it was that I wouldn’t be there every day, behind a computer. That’s just not the way artists work. We are creators of objects so I can’t just sit in an office all day."

A laser-guided pioneer

Sarah’s research could well provide a step towards a new way of thinking, where the gulf between the disciplines of science and art is all but eradicated, something that excites her greatly, particularly as she’s no stranger to the pioneering spirit.

One of the lasers in action

Her PhD grew from her work as a lecturer in art and design at City College Manchester, where she helped set up a unique professional development qualification, encouraging artists to use new technology. Buoyed by the success, she left lecturing to pursue her studies.

"For someone like me to leave art and design and enter the world of engineering at that level was nothing short of a quantum leap into the unknown. You are not just leaving your comfort zone – you are trying to understand a different language completely.

"The first seminars I went to were extraordinary. I am beginning to understand it a bit more now. But I think it’s a two-way process. The engineers are beginning to understand what I am trying to do. I have organised two exhibitions since I have been studying for my PhD and people are beginning to take notice."

Not that it has been total plain sailing. Sarah admits that it was something of a learning curve to move to such a different way of thinking.

"I had to get to grips with the technical language as I went along. I used to go home none the wiser and for the first three months I thought I was going to have to jack it in, because it was impenetrable. Even the induction sessions they held for us left me cold and pretty clueless. But in the end I thought ‘no, I’m going to stick with this’.

"At the first seminar, people looked at me in disbelief and probably wondered why I was there. But very quickly I decided that I was just going to have to get used to it. I’m not sure my lecturers and peers realised just how intimidating that was. Not just because I didn’t know what they are talking about but also because there are so few women working on laser-related research projects. Things are much better now."

One of Sarah's designs

Arms across the work bench

Things are so much better, in fact, that Sarah is not only pushing things forward in her own work but also curating an exhibition, Walking With Scientists, that addresses the divide between jewellers and engineers.

"Historically the gap between the sciences and the arts is legendary," she explains, "making it difficult for either culture to understand the other effectively.

"My research, therefore, seeks to establish a productive dialogue between the two communities, with the aim to enable the use of laser processing to open new avenues in the field of contemporary jewellery."

Walking With Scientists is at the Manchester Museum from Saturday 7 July to Sunday 2 September.