A Love for Laika
Kate Rowland on how her fascination with the Soviet space era has insipired her jewellery design
Like countless other children I grew up fascinated by space. The incomprehensible scale of our universe represented with peas and beach balls, colourful depictions of nebulae, moons and planets, and school-photo-like images of the brave women and men who had travelled out into the unknown littered the books of my childhood. My interest continued past my collection of moonrocks (stones dug up from the garden) and into my work at university, where I looked at the ways in which science and ideas can be popularised and communicated through art and design.
As part of a project in my final year of studying illustration, I created a series of paintings celebrating lesser-known achievements in space; intended as a fun twist on the patches worn by cosmonauts and astronauts. The Soviet graphic design and illustration used in the 20th Century, particularly the space race era, was a particular inspiration with its bold colours, text and graphic style. I love the bizarre portrayal of space and technology, often peculiarly removed from reality, but somehow capturing the essence of how exciting space exploration was, and is. Young children flying on top of rockets, colourful communities built on barren planets, even Santa Klaus or Ded Moroz was shown delivering presents from atop his space rocket!
I designed both the Laika and Cosmonaut brooches some years later in 2016, after I started my laser cut jewellery business. I was inspired by the cosmonauts exhibition at the Science Museum, where the capsule flown by Valentina Tereshkova was exhibited alongside space suits and survival equipment used when sending dogs into space. It was really affecting, and I wanted to create a tribute to Laika in particular, who had no choice in the matter of being sent to space. The truth of her sad demise was only made public almost 50 years after the event, and I’d advise caution when reading her story if you are a dog lover like myself.
My earlier illustrations were a starting point for the hand-drawn designs which have been etched and cut into two layers of plywood. I finish each piece with hand-painted detail and transparent blue acrylic helmet visors. The Laika brooch features her name in Russian engraved onto the helmet. I love combining wood and acrylic in my jewellery designs, the contrast between the textural wood and smooth, glossy acrylic is really effective. All the wood that I use to make jewellery is sustainably sourced and made of fast-growing poplar, which is lovely to engrave and very lightweight.
Kate Rowland’s delightful Laika the Space Dog Brooch and Soviet Cosmonaut Brooch are available in the Pushkin House Shop.
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