Greig Alderman - MA/MSc Craft
I Dedico. Encircling Identity: Reimagining Romano-British Glass Bangles in Contemporary Craft
My MA project centres on reimagining Romano-British glass bangles from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, as a way of exploring continuity and identity in contemporary craft. The bangle, as a simple circular form, carries deep cultural significance: it has been used across time and place as a marker of belonging, status, and personal expression. By returning to this form, I connect my work to a lineage of adornment that is both intimate and universal.
Entitled I Dedico, or “I dedicate”, the work takes its name from Roman graffito scratched into Samian ware pottery found in Chester. The title reflects the spirit of offering and memory embedded in both ancient and contemporary objects. In revisiting Romano-British bangles, I am not aiming for reproduction but for resonance. Their cracked, fragmented forms speak of identity experienced in pieces. My own bangles reflect this through joins, seams, and subtle irregularities, reshaping technical struggles into tangible expressions of meaning.
Working with borosilicate glass, I create durable, tactile forms that combine clarity and strength with visible traces of making. By fuming the surface with silver and 24ct gold, I introduce shifting colours and iridescence, evoking a sense of preciousness and transformation. Each bangle becomes an individual expression, a meeting point between history and the present, honouring memory while offering new ways to express identity.
