Once We Were Queens grew from years of independent research into prehistoric Europe, ancient British landscapes and the symbolism of goddess traditions. The collection began during a workshop in Mexico with jewellery artist Susan Lenart, before developing through a specialist mentorship and an Arts Council England-funded period of one-to-one study.

These works are not intended as historical reconstructions. Instead they explore how ancient forms, ceremonial adornment and archaeological objects continue to resonate today. Spirals, axes, anthropomorphic figures and protective talismans reappear throughout the collection, alongside feathers, leather, silver and found materials.

Rather than treating jewellery as decoration, I became interested in adornment as transformation — objects that alter how we inhabit our bodies, carry memory and tell stories. This collection became an important step towards later bodies of work including Mother Tongue, where archaeology, language and material histories began to converge.