Kei Tominaga is London-based artist originally from Tokyo. She studied metal sculpture and smithing at the Tokyo University for Art and Music. After completing her masters, she started to experiment with product design in order to bring her work to a wider audience. In addition to designing several solo contemporary product collections, Tominaga had previously collaborated with several global architects and designers. Her latest work of jewellery, silverware, and metalworks are a departure from her product design background; she brings the lightness and also textures of paper to her unique designs in precious metals.

"I like to work with sheet metals, especially soft metals such as silver, gold, copper and iron. They are much better and more flexible than we generally think they are, so I work with metal exactly as I work with other everyday materials such as paper or fabric,” says Tominaga.

"I cut, bend, fold, curve and stick them together, narrowing down the techniques in the process so the result is as simple as possible. I think it gives the object a strength that is simple and pure. I like sharp, straight edges just like folded paper. Completely flat faces or tightly curved edges give my work strength and tension.”