So, I never did introduce you to my studio…
Melissa is a jewellery artist from Australia living in Seattle in the US. Her works can be found in the National Gallery of Australia as well as the Cheongju City Collection in South Korea. Her enamel works typically display subtle enamel incursions amidst precise laser cut stainless steel layers.
This is an enamelled piece that I made as a response to a recent work, and as a test piece for my works for the Heat Exchange project. Thus it has some faults, but has also proven to be quite instructive in determining what I’m after, especially in terms of the shape of metal substrate I’m seeking to use for my current works-in-progress.
I’m going to analyse it, for my own reference, (something I guess I would normally do, but not ‘out loud’ like this), starting with the faults, as I see them.
– The edges need better finishing – I’ve ordered some diamond abrasive pads and would ideally smooth the edges to be consistent. I actually like the black frame line too – but I think I have to work at making it a little more consistent also.
– The line of dark dots down the centre – these were intentional as they mark holes in the metal that the enamel has covered, and were kept to match the work that this piece was responding to. They seem out of place in this work however, so I would not be working to cultivate them if I made this piece again. (Having re-read this, and looking again at the image, I’m now wondering about my Descartes connection, and what I have drawn so far. In some instances maybe they will stay…)
– The clarity of the drawn image – It’s not clear what it is, and I think this results from the choice of image combined with its use in such a tight area.
The things that I like about this work
– The shape and its potential omni-directionality
– The graphite drawing – there is something very beautiful about the overall materiality. Several people have mistaken it for mother-of-pearl, which is interesting. I made another brooch on the same day, but the markings in graphite are less interesting/evocative.
– The combination of sandblasted metal + enamel – Shiny versus matte. Contrast is good.
That’s a lot of feedback, from one small piece, 105mm x 10mm.
I’m in the process of drawing patterns, that I will have laser-cut in stainless steel. This is the first time I’ve made these drawings with enamel in mind. It’s a long process, so it still feels like I’m a long way from doing any enamelling.
Melissa is a jewellery artist from Australia living in Seattle in the US. Her works can be found in the National Gallery of Australia as well as the Cheongju City Collection in South Korea. Her enamel works typically display subtle enamel incursions amidst precise laser cut stainless steel layers.
I’ve been reading up on René Descartes, the philosopher/mathematician. The guy who had a whole coordinate system named after him, as he provided the link between algebra and geometry on which the later Cartesian system was based. (The name he took, in Latin publications, was Cartesius)
I can’t say that I was much of a fan of him when I was first studying maths, but I have become more interested over time, mostly through the practical applications of his works that I use constantly in Cad drawing software. At the corner of the screen in which I work (the AutoCad image above,) there is always an x,y axis to remind me that I’m working in Cartesian space.
I’m reading his text Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences. My work has mined the cross as a motif before, so I’ve turned to the master for some inspiration, sparked off by the axis (and the AutoCad crosshairs don’t hurt) that I see so often.
Melissa is a jewellery artist from Australia living in Seattle in the US. Her works can be found in the National Gallery of Australia as well as the Cheongju City Collection in South Korea. Her enamel works typically display subtle enamel incursions amidst precise laser cut stainless steel layers.
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.
Melissa is a jewellery artist from Australia living in Seattle in the US. Her works can be found in the National Gallery of Australia as well as the Cheongju City Collection in South Korea. Her enamel works typically display subtle enamel incursions amidst precise laser cut stainless steel layers.
We’d like to introduce the artists participating in Heat Exchange. Below is an image of each of their works.
Melissa is a jewellery artist from Australia living in Seattle in the US. Her works can be found in the National Gallery of Australia as well as the Cheongju City Collection in South Korea. Her enamel works typically display subtle enamel incursions amidst precise laser cut stainless steel layers.
Melissa is a jewellery artist from Australia living in Seattle in the US. Her works can be found in the National Gallery of Australia as well as the Cheongju City Collection in South Korea. Her enamel works typically display subtle enamel incursions amidst precise laser cut stainless steel layers.