Gunilla Treen graduated from the Central School of Art & Design, London, in 1971, and was noted as one of the few innovatory jewellery designers of the decade in her use of new materials, forms and colour.
Treen’s signature was triple layered acrylic sheets, with a clear centre holding mobile shapes in various semi-precious materials such as lapis lazuli and malachite. She was one of the pioneer artist jewellers to experiment with plastic, and this work in the early 1970s excited many in the field but
upset the traditionalists. It allowed a spontaneity and use of colour, and allowed the jeweller to break away from notions of elitism and wealth from use of precious metals.
In the 1960s and 70s, it was normal for artists to exchange works. There was a dearth of informed collectors, and so to swap work was a very pleasant way of ensuring that works, which are now seen to be of museum quality, stayed in good hands.
Ann Sutton recalls one particular swap with Treen,
"The set of brooches, cut from perspex in three layers, kaleidoscope fashion, small shapes of lapis lazuli, malachite and jade, was a masterpiece. The set was designed to be worn together, and I loved it for the way in which it moved and changed according to the way it was pinned on. I had just been exploring machine knitting, and had made a jacket which suited Gunilla well. We swapped.”
An exhibition, which included brooches but not the jacket, was shown at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol in 1980.
