VISUAL ARTS NEW WORK GRANT - THE AUSTRALIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS
Japanese Metal and Lacquer Investigations
The Garden Pots series

Contained-Jewellery and Objects, 2008
Kudos Gallery, The College of Fine Arts-The University of New South Wales

The Garden Pots include a series Brooches and Pendants which references suburban Japanese gardens in particular to pot plants. This project was inspired by my first visit to Yamagata, Japan. The forms comment on the particular ornateness to urban gardening aesthetics. The surfaces are articulated with floral designs using some traditional techniques to capture the vibrant hues of pink found in copper. This surface texture is created through the combination of working with an etched surface, followed with copper patination and then painting the surface channels with Japanese lacquer. The forms are hollow and the surface patterns are applied to evoke a sense of the gardening feeling of beauty in a designed nature environment.