People of Design: Karina Gill

As part of the first project of the second year we had to do a talk on a designer that had done work in the last five years. The person I picked was Karina Gill as she uses acid etching to make the patterns on her bowls and so wanted to know more about the process. Below is a little info on her.

Karina Gill studied at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design in Farnham where she gained her BA (Hons) in 3 Dimensional Design in metal work. Since completing her degree she has built up her business from her workshop in Dorset where she designs and makes her etched metal bowls and jewellery.

Karina's work has been influenced by colour, texture and repetition. Her organic and geometric forms are hammered and manipulated by hand in silver, steel, copper and brass. The rich colours and textures are created by etching with acid and surface pagination.

She enjoys creating warm decorative items from cold, hard sheet metal and is currently working on a much larger scale, experimenting with sculptural bowls for the garden.

Acid etching is a process that uses a strong acid to cut into another substance. It is used for both industrial and artistic purposes. To etch sheet metal requires the use of some rather strong acids. The best acid to use in sheet metal etching is muriatic acid, also known as hydrochloric acid.