The artist, Ali Peter, hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Having always had an interest in jewelry and jewelry design, she first took up jewelry/metalwork at the Alberta School of Art and Design, then went on to train in Florence Italy. After a long stint of living in Korea, China and Japan, she landed in San francisco California where she continued her exploration of contemporary metal work, learning new techniques - all the time drawing inspiration from tbe traditional jewelry forms and techniques witnessed on her travels. She currently resides in Shimoda, a seaside village in Japan, where she works out of her home studio.
Ali is fascinated by materials and how they are shaped by the passing of time, natural forces and the workings of culture. Many years of working and travelling in Europe, South and Central America and Asia, observing different techniques and styles has deepened her appreciation of ancient civilization’s and current culture's fabricating and forging techniques and natural forms. As well as an interest in gemstones and the complimentary affect of gemstones and mixed metals to design.
The process, by which Ali works, is not conventional, in that, a piece has been laid out the the steps are followed through to a result. Rather, a concept is in place but evolves with the way the material conforms to her tools- hands, torch, hammer etc. So each piece is an exploration, and the result being wearable art. She experiments with different textures and seeks out unique stones to give each piece individuality.
Ali loves the way time and nature transform objects whether it be erosion, or use. Precious metals and gems may show wear, textures may change, develop or soften but the pieces always maintain a timeless value. She hopes the owners of her pieces will get a kick out of their one of a kind personality.
Ali loves gemstones and metal, always has. She loves how metal moves and transforms under heat and pressure. How it takes on new associations and connotations in the eyes of the beholder while remaining true to itself. Her ideas and emotions fuel her creativity, combining precious metals and rare gemstones into jewelry that is more hewn than made. Her aesthetic is her response to life and what beguiles her therein is revealed in her choices of color, material and finish. Her working process is one of revelation rather than construction to a plan. Her fascination with textures and patinas is her love of materials existing in the real world their essence revealed over time. The timelessness that draws her is not the captured perfection of the laboratory; instead she is drawn to the natural cycles of life which bring fantastic diversity and maintain rigorous balance. She is a romantic and a realist, a practical doer and
an idealist. Hers is the symmetry of a sand dune, a copse of trees, an old wall. Things that leave us in no doubt that they last. That they belong.