WAnt: contemporary jewellery from WA
Jill Parnell, Remember Tom and Bid, 2017, fine silver, enamel, sterling silver, 18ct yellow, red & green gold, fine silver mesh, 60mm x 50mm x 7mm. Photo: Yasmin Eghtesadi
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Map reference number: 74
Brunswick Street Gallery
Lvl 1 & Lvl 2, 322 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 19 – 31 August
Tue–Fri 10am–8pm, Sat–Sun 10am–6pm Opening: Fri 18 August, 6–9pm
Artist/s: Elizabeth Hawkley, Jenny Crisp, Barbara Cotter, Max Ball, Sultana Shamshi, Jacquie Sprogoe, Annika Hauschild, Fatemeh Boroujeni, Jill Parnell, Katrina Virgona, Blandine Halle, Bethamy Linton, Lynndy Young, Alister Yiap, Alexandra D’Ulisse & Betty McKeough
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WAnt: contemporary jewellery from WA is a juried exhibition of all new works by WA based members of The Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia (JMGA WA Inc.), juried and curated by eminent jewellers, Dr Dorothy Erickson and Brenda Ridgewell. Sixteen jewellers, from recent graduates to established artists, will showcase the variety and quality of contemporary studio jewellery practice in Western Australia.
Our exhibition explores making as an expression of identity. Like makers everywhere we tend to practice in isolation. The realities of distance in our home state magnify this solitude. Responses to environment become the common thread that unites us. We are influenced by the wider landscape and our personal environments, both macro and micro. In the national cultural context, WA makers are often regarded as “other” and it is this very “otherness” that makes us unique. Coming together from diverse backgrounds we aim to share and crystallise our perspective.
Our exhibition explores making as an expression of identity. Like makers everywhere we tend to practice in isolation. The realities of distance in our home state magnify this solitude. Responses to environment become the common thread that unites us. We are influenced by the wider landscape and our personal environments, both macro and micro. In the national cultural context, WA makers are often regarded as “other” and it is this very “otherness” that makes us unique. Coming together from diverse backgrounds we aim to share and crystallise our perspective.
a. Jacquie Sprogoe, 2 brooches, 2017, enamel on fine silver, stirling silver, 45mm x 65mm, 57mm x 47mm, Yasmin Eghtesadi
b. Barbara Cotter, Ring – PYR Series, 2012, vitreous enamel on fine silver and copper, 18ct and 9ct gold, 25mm x 30mm x 40mm, Perth. Product Photography
c. Blandine Halle, Looking Out the Window 3, brooch, 2017, oxidised sterling silver, photographic print, acrylic, 75mm x 110mm x 20mm. Photo: Blandine Halle
d. Betty McKeough, Anemone Ring 1, 2015, sterling silver, fine silver, dyed silicone rubber, 40mm x 50mm, Betty McKeough.
e. Katrina Virgona, Spanish Whisper IV, necklace, 2011, felted merino wool, plastics, wire, coconut shell, 100mm x 150mm x 35mm. Photo: Ben Joel
f. Max Ball, Ocean on Fire ring, 2015, sterling silver, shell, semi-precious stones, 60mm x 25mm x 25mm. Photo: Penny Hudson
g. Bethamy Linton, Banksia Grandis Series Cuff no 3, 2016, titanium, sterling silver, 85mm x 40mm. Photo: Bethamy Linton
h. Sultana Shamshi, Palm No. 3 - On the Silk Road, Brooch, 2017, fine silver and Venetian trade bead, 65mm x 52mm x 14mm. Photo: Shaheen Hughes
i. Alister Yiap, Micromech Crystal Cage necklace, 2015, sterling silver, obsidian, 101mm x 40mm x 43mm. Photo: Alister Yiap
b. Barbara Cotter, Ring – PYR Series, 2012, vitreous enamel on fine silver and copper, 18ct and 9ct gold, 25mm x 30mm x 40mm, Perth. Product Photography
c. Blandine Halle, Looking Out the Window 3, brooch, 2017, oxidised sterling silver, photographic print, acrylic, 75mm x 110mm x 20mm. Photo: Blandine Halle
d. Betty McKeough, Anemone Ring 1, 2015, sterling silver, fine silver, dyed silicone rubber, 40mm x 50mm, Betty McKeough.
e. Katrina Virgona, Spanish Whisper IV, necklace, 2011, felted merino wool, plastics, wire, coconut shell, 100mm x 150mm x 35mm. Photo: Ben Joel
f. Max Ball, Ocean on Fire ring, 2015, sterling silver, shell, semi-precious stones, 60mm x 25mm x 25mm. Photo: Penny Hudson
g. Bethamy Linton, Banksia Grandis Series Cuff no 3, 2016, titanium, sterling silver, 85mm x 40mm. Photo: Bethamy Linton
h. Sultana Shamshi, Palm No. 3 - On the Silk Road, Brooch, 2017, fine silver and Venetian trade bead, 65mm x 52mm x 14mm. Photo: Shaheen Hughes
i. Alister Yiap, Micromech Crystal Cage necklace, 2015, sterling silver, obsidian, 101mm x 40mm x 43mm. Photo: Alister Yiap
About the Artist
Elizabeth Hawkley’s English heritage, love of costume and history is revealed in her application of textile techniques prominent in her jewellery designs. After completing an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery Design at North Metropolitan TAFE Elizabeth is keen to explore further the versatility of crochet and fabricated wire structures in producing larger scale, sculptural wearable art. This body of work is an abstract response to her interest in the “Chaos and Order” theory and human behavioural responses. Our ongoing obsession with creating ‘Order out of Chaos’ on an everyday level and the internal conflicts it creates with our preoccupation in achieving a state of ‘Happiness’.
Jenny Crisp Sprite: The wire cage has become an expression of control and containment of the self and its desires, whether internally of externally. But strangely, by becoming a concrete reality, a negative has become a source of nourishment and positive expression, whereby that self is then a free agent, a spirit that roams free.
Barbara Cotter's work blends seemingly disparate ideas that are fragments of life reinterpreted. The surface textures of the enamel reference the layering of the discordant rhythm of day to day life. The repetition of marks hints at the fragments of identity, both physical and metaphorical, that are the consequences of the past creating the present. Barbara completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1991, and a Masters of Art by Research in 2005 at Curtin University. She has worked in galleries in a variety of roles, taught jewellery to a range of ages and skill levels, and exhibits regularly on a national basis.
Max Ball was born in Sydney in 1949 and has lived in WA since the mid 60’s. He studied Architecture at Perth Tech and WAIT 1968. He practised full time as a Registered Architect until 1995 after commencing his own private practice in 1990. He ceased architecture and began full time jewellery in 1995. Max has won many awards and participated in many solo and group exhibitions. In 2008 he was a recipient of an Australia Council Grant for New Work. Max is now focusing mainly on sculpture and loving every minute of it. ‘I design and make objects which reflect my love of simplicity and endeavour to cleverly use materials in an individual way. I try to re-invent the wheel every time’.
Sultana Shamshi: My passion for gardens and trees has resulted in the theme of my work “Reforestation” which involves the making of a tree brooch at any given time in my practice. I am exploring the cycles of growth, decay, and regeneration in a series of brooches in varied materials and styles that are inspired by the Greek myths and the prehistoric animistic and arboreal cults. I find fascinating the iconic trees - the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge and the metamorphosis in Greek creation myths of Daphne, Narcissus, Myrhha and many others into trees and animals. I jettison stylistic constraints to keep my work fresh and exciting and explore new ways to use materials and forms. Casting, lapidary work, woodwork and needlework form the core of my practice, but I am not immune to stray influences from the detritus floating around in my environment.
Jacquie Sprogoe: I am drawn to an ‘up-close’ view and the wonderful patterns and textures in natural things, taking photographs, and making drawings from these to design finished pieces. Enamelling is my preferred medium, with so many expressive ways and variations of application. I love the use of colour on metal, on fine silver for the delicate or bolder colours, and copper for the rich base it gives, together with gold and silver foils. I make different jewellery pieces, but have a preference for brooches as each one can be like a small painting or artwork, complete in itself.
Fatemah Boroujeni, born in 1981 in Iran, is a contemporary artist and designer currently based in Australia. Originally trained as a painter and industrial designer in Tehran, Boroujeni later pursued graduate studies in Applied Arts and Design at Curtin University, followed by an Advanced Diploma of Jewellery Design at the Central Institute of Technology, where she is currently lecturing in jewellery and object design. Her work often combines references to Persian design and patterns within her clean, elegant forms. Her cross-cultural back ground creates a contemporary dialogue in her work that draws from global influences and combines points of view in surprising ways.
Katrina Virgona is originally from North Queensland but has also lived in Fiji and northern NSW. She settled in Perth in 1984 after working in various locations around Australia. Currently Katrina teaches art theory in the School of Design and Art at Curtin University. She also conducts independent workshops. In her studio practice, Katrina creates 3D artworks and contemporary textile jewellery pieces, drawing on a diverse range of materials including wool, wire, wood, metal, fur and human hair. Her work has been exhibited locally, nationally and internationally.
With her jewellery Blandine Hallé holds a dialogue between her two identities and loves: Europe and Australia, buzzing cities and wild nature. Originally from Paris, she has lived in Western Australia since 1997. She is currently studying in Barcelona for a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Arts at Escola Massana. Her series “Looking through the window” is inspired by the windows of Barcelona’s houses that are seen through the windows of her eyes and camera. They form a passage between private and public spaces, symbolic of the move we make from the relationship we have with ourselves to the one we establish with others.
Bethamy Linton: The experience of growing up as a fourth generation West Australian silversmith has instilled in me a natural respect for handcrafts and a love of working with metals. I experience the act of making as a profound sense of connection to place and history. My current work is primarily an observance of native West Australian landscape, flora and fauna, through which I seek to record or preserve an observation or sensation while exploring notions of experience, memory and connection. My work is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Powerhouse Museum.
Growing up in South Carolina, Lynndy Young spent many hours fossicking through her grandmother and mother’s jewellery. Belonging to a grandmother described as ‘strong and outrageous’ and a mother described as ‘strong and elegant’ Lynndy believes her jewellery echoes these influences. Lynndy enjoys creating pieces that reflect the fluidity of nature and the changing seasons. She incorporates gumnuts, seed, and fauna and flora into her pieces, even after the delicate flower has passed to reveal its inner strength and foundations. She also finds inspiration working with the rigidity and minimalism of geometric shapes. People's Choice award at JMGA WA Member's Exhibition, What Goes Around: at Turner Galleries in Perth, and Highly Commended for Technical Excellence. Currently enrolled in the Diploma of Gemmology.
Alister Yiap is a Western Australian design artist who works in all facets within the discipline of Jewellery and 3D design. Completing a Bachelor of Art (Jewellery Design) in 2007 from Curtin University of Technology, Yiap has since won various awards and grants and taken part in projects and initiatives nationally and internationally, including jewellery exhibitions and fashion runways. Yiap has been appointed as the Course Co-ordinator to the Associate Degree of Design (Jewellery and Object Design) at North Metropolitan TAFE and has recently extended his practice to include all forms of creative expression inclusive of public art and sculptures.
Perth based jewellery designer Alexandra D’Ulisse began her artistic journey in 2009. Initially enrolling in a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Curtin University, her attention turned towards metalwork and instead completed her degree in Jewellery Design. Her work explores patterns, systems and structures within nature and architecture. Strong themes in her work include contrasting organics and geometric shapes, layering and tessellation. D’Ulisse entered her first exhibition with JMGA WA in 2016, and won first prize for “Technical Excellence” for her piece “Twist of Honey.” She enjoys experimenting with mixed metals, enamelling and creating 3D forms including the use of 3D printing technology.
A farmer’s daughter and former broadcaster, Betty McKeough ventured into jewellery making during part time TAFE studies in the 1990s. From 2008-2010 she studied full-time at CIT, Perth, graduating with an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery & Object Design. She lives and works in the Perth Hills area of Western Australia, influenced by both the natural and man-made environments around her. McKeough describes her style as eclectic. “I am interested in colour and texture, and often use non-traditional elements, including found and repurposed objects, in combination with precious metals. I am a story teller at heart. My pieces tend towards the narrative, and express my love of creative play.”
Jill Parnell: My interest in jewellery making started as a means of making miniature paintings on porcelain while studying at Claremont School of Art for a Diploma in Art Studies. I discovered enamelling in the 1980’s. It seems to be the ideal medium for me, challenging, expressive and with a touch of magic in being able to create my own gems. I have been caught up in a world-wide renaissance in enamelling and work full-time to keep up with overseas and Australian exhibitions. I have received many awards for my work the most recent in 2016 and have a small painting titled “The Things we do” included in the Museum of Contempory Enamel in Salau, Spain.
Elizabeth Hawkley’s English heritage, love of costume and history is revealed in her application of textile techniques prominent in her jewellery designs. After completing an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery Design at North Metropolitan TAFE Elizabeth is keen to explore further the versatility of crochet and fabricated wire structures in producing larger scale, sculptural wearable art. This body of work is an abstract response to her interest in the “Chaos and Order” theory and human behavioural responses. Our ongoing obsession with creating ‘Order out of Chaos’ on an everyday level and the internal conflicts it creates with our preoccupation in achieving a state of ‘Happiness’.
Jenny Crisp Sprite: The wire cage has become an expression of control and containment of the self and its desires, whether internally of externally. But strangely, by becoming a concrete reality, a negative has become a source of nourishment and positive expression, whereby that self is then a free agent, a spirit that roams free.
Barbara Cotter's work blends seemingly disparate ideas that are fragments of life reinterpreted. The surface textures of the enamel reference the layering of the discordant rhythm of day to day life. The repetition of marks hints at the fragments of identity, both physical and metaphorical, that are the consequences of the past creating the present. Barbara completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1991, and a Masters of Art by Research in 2005 at Curtin University. She has worked in galleries in a variety of roles, taught jewellery to a range of ages and skill levels, and exhibits regularly on a national basis.
Max Ball was born in Sydney in 1949 and has lived in WA since the mid 60’s. He studied Architecture at Perth Tech and WAIT 1968. He practised full time as a Registered Architect until 1995 after commencing his own private practice in 1990. He ceased architecture and began full time jewellery in 1995. Max has won many awards and participated in many solo and group exhibitions. In 2008 he was a recipient of an Australia Council Grant for New Work. Max is now focusing mainly on sculpture and loving every minute of it. ‘I design and make objects which reflect my love of simplicity and endeavour to cleverly use materials in an individual way. I try to re-invent the wheel every time’.
Sultana Shamshi: My passion for gardens and trees has resulted in the theme of my work “Reforestation” which involves the making of a tree brooch at any given time in my practice. I am exploring the cycles of growth, decay, and regeneration in a series of brooches in varied materials and styles that are inspired by the Greek myths and the prehistoric animistic and arboreal cults. I find fascinating the iconic trees - the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge and the metamorphosis in Greek creation myths of Daphne, Narcissus, Myrhha and many others into trees and animals. I jettison stylistic constraints to keep my work fresh and exciting and explore new ways to use materials and forms. Casting, lapidary work, woodwork and needlework form the core of my practice, but I am not immune to stray influences from the detritus floating around in my environment.
Jacquie Sprogoe: I am drawn to an ‘up-close’ view and the wonderful patterns and textures in natural things, taking photographs, and making drawings from these to design finished pieces. Enamelling is my preferred medium, with so many expressive ways and variations of application. I love the use of colour on metal, on fine silver for the delicate or bolder colours, and copper for the rich base it gives, together with gold and silver foils. I make different jewellery pieces, but have a preference for brooches as each one can be like a small painting or artwork, complete in itself.
Fatemah Boroujeni, born in 1981 in Iran, is a contemporary artist and designer currently based in Australia. Originally trained as a painter and industrial designer in Tehran, Boroujeni later pursued graduate studies in Applied Arts and Design at Curtin University, followed by an Advanced Diploma of Jewellery Design at the Central Institute of Technology, where she is currently lecturing in jewellery and object design. Her work often combines references to Persian design and patterns within her clean, elegant forms. Her cross-cultural back ground creates a contemporary dialogue in her work that draws from global influences and combines points of view in surprising ways.
Katrina Virgona is originally from North Queensland but has also lived in Fiji and northern NSW. She settled in Perth in 1984 after working in various locations around Australia. Currently Katrina teaches art theory in the School of Design and Art at Curtin University. She also conducts independent workshops. In her studio practice, Katrina creates 3D artworks and contemporary textile jewellery pieces, drawing on a diverse range of materials including wool, wire, wood, metal, fur and human hair. Her work has been exhibited locally, nationally and internationally.
With her jewellery Blandine Hallé holds a dialogue between her two identities and loves: Europe and Australia, buzzing cities and wild nature. Originally from Paris, she has lived in Western Australia since 1997. She is currently studying in Barcelona for a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Arts at Escola Massana. Her series “Looking through the window” is inspired by the windows of Barcelona’s houses that are seen through the windows of her eyes and camera. They form a passage between private and public spaces, symbolic of the move we make from the relationship we have with ourselves to the one we establish with others.
Bethamy Linton: The experience of growing up as a fourth generation West Australian silversmith has instilled in me a natural respect for handcrafts and a love of working with metals. I experience the act of making as a profound sense of connection to place and history. My current work is primarily an observance of native West Australian landscape, flora and fauna, through which I seek to record or preserve an observation or sensation while exploring notions of experience, memory and connection. My work is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Powerhouse Museum.
Growing up in South Carolina, Lynndy Young spent many hours fossicking through her grandmother and mother’s jewellery. Belonging to a grandmother described as ‘strong and outrageous’ and a mother described as ‘strong and elegant’ Lynndy believes her jewellery echoes these influences. Lynndy enjoys creating pieces that reflect the fluidity of nature and the changing seasons. She incorporates gumnuts, seed, and fauna and flora into her pieces, even after the delicate flower has passed to reveal its inner strength and foundations. She also finds inspiration working with the rigidity and minimalism of geometric shapes. People's Choice award at JMGA WA Member's Exhibition, What Goes Around: at Turner Galleries in Perth, and Highly Commended for Technical Excellence. Currently enrolled in the Diploma of Gemmology.
Alister Yiap is a Western Australian design artist who works in all facets within the discipline of Jewellery and 3D design. Completing a Bachelor of Art (Jewellery Design) in 2007 from Curtin University of Technology, Yiap has since won various awards and grants and taken part in projects and initiatives nationally and internationally, including jewellery exhibitions and fashion runways. Yiap has been appointed as the Course Co-ordinator to the Associate Degree of Design (Jewellery and Object Design) at North Metropolitan TAFE and has recently extended his practice to include all forms of creative expression inclusive of public art and sculptures.
Perth based jewellery designer Alexandra D’Ulisse began her artistic journey in 2009. Initially enrolling in a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Curtin University, her attention turned towards metalwork and instead completed her degree in Jewellery Design. Her work explores patterns, systems and structures within nature and architecture. Strong themes in her work include contrasting organics and geometric shapes, layering and tessellation. D’Ulisse entered her first exhibition with JMGA WA in 2016, and won first prize for “Technical Excellence” for her piece “Twist of Honey.” She enjoys experimenting with mixed metals, enamelling and creating 3D forms including the use of 3D printing technology.
A farmer’s daughter and former broadcaster, Betty McKeough ventured into jewellery making during part time TAFE studies in the 1990s. From 2008-2010 she studied full-time at CIT, Perth, graduating with an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery & Object Design. She lives and works in the Perth Hills area of Western Australia, influenced by both the natural and man-made environments around her. McKeough describes her style as eclectic. “I am interested in colour and texture, and often use non-traditional elements, including found and repurposed objects, in combination with precious metals. I am a story teller at heart. My pieces tend towards the narrative, and express my love of creative play.”
Jill Parnell: My interest in jewellery making started as a means of making miniature paintings on porcelain while studying at Claremont School of Art for a Diploma in Art Studies. I discovered enamelling in the 1980’s. It seems to be the ideal medium for me, challenging, expressive and with a touch of magic in being able to create my own gems. I have been caught up in a world-wide renaissance in enamelling and work full-time to keep up with overseas and Australian exhibitions. I have received many awards for my work the most recent in 2016 and have a small painting titled “The Things we do” included in the Museum of Contempory Enamel in Salau, Spain.
