Laura Jer is an Auckland-based contemporary jeweller who graduated from Unitec Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Design and Visual Arts (Contemporary Jewellery major) in 2013. She now works from her bench at Whau Studios, a jewellery collective and shared studio space in Pt Chevalier.

Laura’s jewellery practice is very much process-driven, using folding, bending and creasing of thin silver plate to create depth and layers from a single flat surface. Each piece is beautifully simple, fluid, expressive and all-inclusive, as the finding that connects object to wearer is created within the same sheet, thus removing the need for soldering or joining additional material. Laura’s designs are never sketched out; instead they come to life when she puts hand to metal and starts to manipulate and shape the material. It is always the metal that provides the inspiration for her work.