Metals and Jewellery

The unifying theme within the Metals and Jewellery studio is the handcrafting of objects closely associated with the human body, physically or symbolically. The intimate studio based course encourages students to develop an open, experimental approach to materials and making. Students are encouraged to challenge generally accepted concerns for objects in relation to the body including status and sentiment, and to produce work which questions the understanding of what jewellery entails. Experimentations with form, materials and processes, image making, and connections with the body form a basis for carefully considered and constructed objects which become small vehicles for personal expression, and perhaps even suggest new ways of understanding ourselves.

Throughout the Bachelor of Fine Art and Bachelor of Visual Arts, students consolidate a personal approach to making. Individual research is influenced and expanded by theoretical study and creative drawing. As the Metals and Jewellery studio is within the Faculty of Art and Design, students have access to a diversity of lecturing staff over the three or four years of their Degree. I would like to acknowledge some staff in particular who have assisted these students over that time; Mascha Moje, Simon Cottrell, Manon van Kouswijk and Vito Bila.

The graduates address issues relating to current craft practice and make works that display individuality and a high level of craftsmanship. The Graduate exhibition is an opportunity to expose their work to public scrutiny and appraisal. All students participate in the many aspects of staging this exhibition, contributing to their professional experience. There are two Awards presented to graduates this year, these two prestigious Awards are named in recognition of the contribution to Australian Art by the late Dr Ann Lewis and to contemporary jewellery by Mari Funaki. The Ann Lewis Award for excellence and the Mari Funaki Award recognise talent and shall assist each recipient in their future career.

In 2011 past graduates have been engaged in international and local exhibitions including the Ernest Leviny Silversmithing Award, Buda, Castlemaine Victoria, the Itami Jewellery Exhibition, Itami, Japan and the Cheongju Craft Biennale, Cheongju, Korea. Melissa Cameron was awarded the Gold prize at Cheongju Craft Biennale and the Melbourne Arts Centre Prize, Buda Silver Exhibition Castlemaine, Sarah Hudson won an Award at Itami

The next few years will require dedication and determination to achieve success in their chosen field of metals and jewellery. I am sure that their constant striving for individual creativity and excellence will stand them in good stead and I wish them every success with their future careers.

Marian Hosking

Studio Coordinator
Metals and Jewellery