Biography
Maria Hanson (b. 1967) studied Three Dimensional Design at West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham, Surrey (1986-89) and did a post-graduate degree in Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery at the Royal Collge of Art (1989-91). She is both an academic and a maker. In 1994 she began teaching at Loughborough College of Art and Design and at Liverpool Hope University College and in1997 she joined the renowned University of Central England’s School of Jewellery in Birmingham, and more recently, since 2003 has lectured at Sheffield Hallam University, where she has lived since 1995.
Hanson established her first studio workshop in 1991 at the South Bank Craft Centre, London designing and making collections of batch production jewellery alongside one-off and limited edition pieces for exhibition and commission. Her work crosses between contemporary studio jewellery and small-scale domestic and ceremonial objects. She has participated in many national and international exhibitions, which include six solo shows. She was short-listed for the Jerwood Applied Arts prize for Jewellery in 2000 and recent exhibitions have included Objects and Ritual at the Harley Gallery, Collect at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Lonodn; and Hanging in Balance, an exhibition that toured the USA. Her work can be seen in a number of public collections, including the Crafts Council, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the National Museums of Scotland, the Goldsmiths’ Company and the Sheffield Millennium Gallery.
