Kelvin J. Birk has been based at Cockpit Arts since 1998 as a self-employed jeweller, silversmith and designer. He also teaches jewellery making, design studies and professional practice courses. 

Kelvin produces jewellery as well as larger objects, mainly in silver and gold with all types of gemstones. Within his work he crushes precious gemstones and glues them back together, sometimes in a random uncontrolled shape, other times in a more controlled manner and then combines these stones with jewellery pieces or objects in precious metal.

Within his work he is consciously disregarding what is traditionally considered precious. Kelvin revels in a lack of control, allows chaos to take over and the nature of the precious materials to dictate the final outcome of the pieces. His collection is constantly developing and through different creative processes new pieces emerge all the time, ensuring that no two are identical.

From 1996 to 1997 Kelvin undertook the Master of Art Degree course in Silversmithing, Jewellery and Applied Arts at Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, London Guildhall University gaining a distinction. Prior to that he had studied at Staatliche Berufsfachschule für Glas und Schmuck in Neugablonz, Germany.

Since 2017 Kelvin has been a Co-Director and Tutor at K2 Academy of Contemporary Jewellery at Cockpit Bloomsbury. He has also taught at the National Taiwan University of Arts, Metropolitan University London, The University of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea College and the Mary Ward Centre. He is visiting lecturer at Kunstschule Liechtenstein.

Kelvin has been awarded numerous awards in the UK and in Europe and his work appears in a range of magazines, newspapers and several books and has been featured in some Films and on Television. Kelvin’s work has been shown and sold at numerous fairs and exhibitions in Great Britain and many other countries around the world.