Níamh Grimes is a Manchester based artist jeweller whose work explores ideas of folk history, tactile memory and ritual. Specialising in metal casting which she uses in conjunction with various other jewellery processes, Níamh creates wearable objects which celebrate the magical thinking of bygone days in an endeavor to nurture a sense of belonging and protection.

Níamh incorporates inherited and found objects into her, often, talismanic works as a vehicle to preserve and reimagine stories and customs of the past. Such objects have recently included salt crystals, quenched coal and vials of anointed oil which are then set into elements of cast brass in an exploration of the ways in which traditional, superstitious Irish folk customs surrounding the Otherworld can inspire the making of contemporary, ritual objects. These jewellery objects are intended to incite feelings of connectedness with ancestors through the act of reconceptualising the protective practices they used for generations.