studio2017

Yuji lives and works in Japan. His work is about the warmth of nature and the flowing of time. “I can’t match nature’s significance, but hope to express even a small part in my work”

Materials and processes are the driving force of Sian’s practice and it is through these, in the act of making, with curiosity, experiment and play that her work emerges. She has a keen interest in the sensual nature of materials and the forms she produces require a tactile interaction to translate entirely. These pieces have been rendered directly from a collection of specimens sourced from the Melbourne Museum and the Australian Museum in Sydney.

The craft of kirigami or Japanese paper cutting is a process I use to develop these flower designs. Each piece is hand cut in silver and soldered together. I like the playfulness of the design process and its often serendipitous result.

Living in Australia has influenced my work profoundly. I discovered my passion for rocks and minerals which occur in abundance here. For a number of years I have been processing and cutting the stones I use in my work myself. I am inspired by the colours of the stones which I frequently use in my work.

The ‘Compressionism’ body of work originated in the examination of the Japanese tenet of Wabi. Through ’squashing’ experiments with metal, Natalie became intrigued with the unpredictable and relatively uncontrollable distortion.

Through the grace and fluidity of this series, the wearer is invited to enjoy the contradictions and randomness of something that we usually know to be rigid and uncompromising.

The idea that making is a form of meditation is an integral part of my practice. Repetitive processes are an essential part of crafting fine small scale works, and once the monotony is overcome, the performance of these rhythmic actions becomes a mesmerising process. I incorporate this repetitive rhythm into the objects that I make using line and pattern.

Mary draws inspiration from nature, the textures, shapes, forms and colours of natural objects. Mary firstly, begins her work through the exploration of these elements via simple coloured sketches. From these sketches Mary begins the working process, the experimentation and amalgamation of materials, this is where her ideas evolve into 3 dimensional pieces.
Colour is an important and vital part of Mary’s work. She is inspired by the colour of various plants and flora. Mary tries to capture and incorporate the colour in nature in her work directly by embedding assorted flora and natural objects in resin.

The pieces you see here are expressions of the movement of falling leaves and, in a broad sense, the rhythms of the seasons. My personal challenge has been to create a series of work which involve complex engineering techniques on a small scale to allow movement of elements while allowing the work to speak for itself.

Working with gold and horn, I hope to have captured the immediacy and simplicity of the sketched lines from which these works developed.