Latest

These are just some things I've been working on during the past week. 




Special thanks to Todd Jennings

Craft Arts International No. 76

Check out my work in this issue of Craft Arts International. This is a great periodical that features everything from glass art to furniture and jewellery. In this issue my work is featured in an article titled 'Questions of Scalability (art education)'.

Young Designers Market




Visit myself and fellow jeweller Eleisha Nylund at our stall at the South Bank Young Designer's Market which is scheduled on the first Sunday of each month, located on Little Stanley Street. A great day out to see the wares of young and emerging designers from fashion to jewellery and home-wares. And if you enjoy a good coffee as much as I do, I highly recommend a pit-stop at 'The Garage', also on Little Stanley Street. The next YDM falls on Sunday December 6th, hope to see you there! Stay tuned for a 'Christmas Collection' preview!

Tiffany Legacy Ring






To support myself as a Jewellery Artist, I manage the Brisbane branch of a Sydney-based gemstone, bead, and pearl wholesaler which has no doubt cultivated an avid love for coloured gemstones. While the perks of the job entail working with high-end loose gemstones and pearls, we are occasionally involved in the production fully finished fine jewellery. As such I was lucky enough to be involved in the making and sourcing of materials for this 'Tiffany Legacy' engagement ring. Much to my excitement the client was not interested in the 'bling factor' of diamonds. Hence, on his behalf I was able to source a stone not seen in one's everyday travels. This 2.34ct cushion cut Padparadscha Sapphire is one of the rarest and most expensive of all sapphires, and is only found in Sri-Lanka. It's name translates to 'lotus blossom', and is deemed so for its distinctive orange and pink hue. Even though it was the most stressful week of my life as the ring was completed in 6 working days (Note to men: DO NOT leave the engagement ring until the week before!!) it was great to be involved in the project from its conception to the finished product. As my images do not do the stone justice in the ring, the first image is of the loose stone professionally photographed. Note its distinctive colour - a truly exceptional stone!

The Dialectics of Inside and Outside
Sterling Silver, 2008
Modeled by Alyssa
Photography by Michelle Bowden

Conceptual Information:

(Detail from The Interval Series)
The two series of works posted below (The Dialectics of Inside and Outside & The Interval Series) are my newest series, and are the resulting pieces in my conceptual investigation of the East Asian concept of the 'Void'. From the artistic perspective of the West, ‘emptiness’ or ‘the void’ is synonymous with negative connotations such as ‘blank space’, ‘lack of representation’, or ‘incompletion’. This is attributed to the difficulty of finding a term corresponding to this concept in the Western artistic lexicon, especially when Western art explicates everything based on forms. However, within the East Asian framework, void is a notion that gives emphasis on the inherent spirit in objects rather than representing them. As such, this concept is used to not only express profound spaces in nature, but also that which is suggested, invisible, and by extension – metaphysical. Thus, my jewellery and object based works aim to explore the way in which this concept expands the limits of available space, intimates the intimate, and confers phenomenological experience. Aesthetically, my works aim to achieve this by means of spatial intonation, and the creation of intimate and hidden spaces within my pieces.

The Dialectics of Inside and Outside

The Dialectics of Inside and Outside #1 & #2
Pendants, 2008
Sterling silver; etched & fabricated
Photography by Michelle Bowden

The Interval Series





The Interval #1 - #5
Wall-Based Objects, 2008
Sterling silver, copper, titanium, aluminium, rubber chord, cubic zirconia, spray enamel, patina.
Photography by Michelle Bowden