Enu the Great

I am a Toronto-based artist and metalsmith behind my artist name Enu the Great. I graduated from the Material Art and Design program at OCAD University. I have received multiple awards as a student, including two consecutive awards each year from 2023 to 2024 at the Canadian Student Silversmithing Annual Exhibition. This year, I won in the emerging artist category at The Earring Show, held by the Craft Council of BC.

As an artist, I am deeply drawn to the concept of vessel forms as holders of creative energy. Most of my metalwork begins with a vessel form as its foundation. I draw visual inspiration from the creatures I observe around me—both in nature and within my home. I study how their environment shapes them and how their bodies tell the story of their lives. Hollow forms particularly captivate me because they embody a similar concept: they contain within them the creative energy generated during the making process, with the finished pieces serving as tangible representations of that creative process.

Our studio houses goldsmiths with a diverse range of skills and techniques. Jewellery is both art and design, and finding the most appropriate technique for constructing our jewellery can enhance the look, feel, and story behind each piece. Take a look at some of the benches of our jewelers today!

A frog by one of our residents Lina, rendered using CAD software to ensure the accuracy of anatomy and species.

The CAD frog was made and then 3D printed in wax so that the model could be made into metal using the lost wax casting method – meaning that anything made in wax can be made into metal.

Below is Lina cutting the frogs off of the sprue tree that was produced during the lost wax casting method when molten metal is poured through a crucible and into the shape of the wax mould.

To create her lightweight, ribbon-like earrings, our goldsmith Tomoe uses wire and presses it through a mill, making it thinner and flatter to achieve her desired effect. She then bends the ribbon features by hand to the create their signature curls.

Our goldsmith Jamie uses a fabrication technique called fusing – it can be perfect for decorative purposes. Fusing can be hard to control as the metals must be attached to one another at a near-molten state, and therefore makes for a spontaneous method of construction – which helps Jamie achieve a more organic and rough style of jewellery. She fuses scrap pieces of silver to a piece of silver wire and then forms them into rings to create her twig-inspired stacking rings. Not a single ring is identical!

For the month of May we celebrate two luscious green stones: emerald and chrysoprase.

Emeralds are formed when chromium, vanadium, and iron are present in the mineral beryl. The varying presence of these three elements gives emerald its range of color. Chromium and vanadium make an intense green color. Iron gives the stone a bluish tint. Source: https://www.gia.edu/seeing-green

Chrysoprase, a variety of chalcedony, derives its colour from nickel. Source: https://www.gemsociety.org/article/chrysoprase-gem-information/