Catherine Wu founded The Traace as an extension of her own philosophy, where beautiful things of human endeavour can speak about our links with the worlds of natural processes and cultural heritage.  It is where time and fragments of memories intersect.  The Traace crafts pieces that are inspired by fossilized life and antiquity and reframed with a fresh perspective.

A range of sources interconnect in Catherine's work.  From her Chinese heritage and idyllic youth in outback Australia, her global travels and love of sunny Sydney, through to her background in menswear design and academic research.  As a young designer, Catherine started a self-entitled menswear label in Sydney before embarking on work as a menswear designer abroad.  Her subsequent PhD in cultural evolutionary theory entitled; 'Darwin's New Clothes: a Neo-Darwinian Metalogic of Cultural Evolutionary Theory', investigates the ways through which we engage with the 'traces' of human histories. 

 Working with predominately fossils and culturally distinctive artefacts, Catherine, then, brings their stories to life with enamelling, gemstone carving, old world cut diamonds and stones with subtle and unusual hues.  Filtered through her design eye for clean lines and abstraction, the pieces are set in metals ranging from 9k and 14k gold, the richer look of 24k gold, through to the icy crispness of 925 sterling silver and white gold.  Working closely with a Jaipur workshop, the pieces are handcrafted by artisans using methods which are steeped in the long, rich heritage of artisan jewellers, lapidarists, and goldsmiths in India.

At the forefront of Catherine's vision is to choose fossils and gemstones that are untreated and with inclusions that make statements about the histories which make them unique. Combined with their handcrafted qualities, each distinctive design becomes a testament to preserving their special characteristics with contemporary relevance.