This piece is called Infinity Affinity, and was made in honour of Professor Ethel Harriet Raybould, the first female academic at the University of Queensland in Australia. It was made for the Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor exhibition, curated by Kirsten Fitzpatrick for Gallery Artisan, in Brisbane, Queensland. The exhibition celebrates 100 years of International Women’s Day, by bringing together 100 Australian and Australia-based female artists to make 100 brooches for 100 famous Australian women.

The work was hand-sawn from a Willow pie dish to commemorate the fact that in order to put herself through university, Professor Raybould earned a living lecturing in Domestic Science for the Education Department in Queensland. This was because there were no scholarships available to women in the 1920’s, and because her parents did not approve of her continuing education. She first filled in for another staff member in the Mathematics department in 1930, and eventually went on to study at Columbia University for two years, returning in 1939. On her return she was reinstated as a lecturer at the University of Queensland, from where she eventually retired in 1955.

The exhibition will continue touring around Australia throughout 2012-2013.