Flowers Between wall vase
sterling silver and shakudo,
handmade combining a synthesis of graphic and laser cut motifs, casting, patination and deconstructed surface assemblage to establish final surface foliage pattern.
21.5 cm x 15.5 cm x 5.1 cm (h, w, d)

Craft ACT
27 October - 10 December 2022

Selected Finalist [text from Craft ACT]
Craft ACT is honoured to present the new Robert Foster F!NK national metal prize, supported by the Tall Foundation and F!NK + Co-Director Gretel Harrison.

This award celebrates the outstanding work of ten emerging and established contemporary metalworkers, designers and craftspeople.

The finalists represent the value of high-quality craft making skills, sound design and innovation that we are lucky to have here in Australia.

From these ten finalists, three makers representing an established artist, an emerging artist, and an acquisition will be selected and awarded generous cash prizes.

Finalists: Alison Jackson | Bic Tieu | Gretal Ferguson | Johannes Kuhnen | Jonathon Zalakos | Kirsten Haydon | Larah Nott | Lindy McSwan | Oliver Smith | Sean Booth

This program is generously supported by the Tall Foundation, F!NK + Co., and Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre.

About the Object
Using the format of a vase as a tangible metaphor to articulate in-betweenness. The surface design provides a visual language as an ornamental container to articulate cultural hybridity.

This work is an exploration of myself as a Southeast Asian – Australian woman living between two cultures. The vase, a vessel design reflects my experiences, my identity and the intercultural connections of life living between the eastern and western spheres. Through living between these cultures, I revel in the creative and metallurgical processes that inform my art and design practice.

The surface design language is developed through a series of hybrid processes where I begin with collecting and rendering of flowers using digital graphic application. Through the illustration, I then take this into the laser cutting of components in which I use lost wax casting for metal alloys of silver and mixing of gold and copper into the composition. Numerous cast components are then further manipulated, cut and soldered to form the final sheet pattern. I then take this sheet to construct the final geometric forms through a process of silver soldering.

The imagery on the vase draws on both eastern and western floral motifs endemic to my cultures to construct a visual language. The re-positioning and layered arrangement of the emblematic motif of deconstructed peonies are contextualized with Australian floral natives including fan flower, flannel flower, kangaroo paw, sturt desert pea, waratah and wattle. These motifs have a deep historical association with Asia and Australia connecting place, cultures and movement and metaphorically contribute to the layered meanings with identity.

The design of the surface tension creates a dialogue for the Australian Southeast Asian diaspora, but more importantly, becomes instruments for articulating cultures that exist ‘in-between’ cultural spaces.