Above: Installation image MasterMakers
Right: Installation image Elise Sheehan, Marcos Guzman, Eli Giannini and Lindy McSwan (right to left)
Foreword
Professor Kit Wise, Dean, School of Art
At RMIT University, we prepare students for a career as skilled practitioners, flexible researchers and future innovators, able to provide leadership within the rapidly changing international field of craft, design, interdisciplinary practice, emerging technologies and contemporary culture. Our historic motto, “a skilled hand and cultivated mind”, has never been more relevant.
The ‘masterclass’ has been central to this pedagogy. Lead by practitioners from a remarkably diverse range of backgrounds, genders and identities, the intense, in-depth, and often immersive experience of working with experts has been transformative for generations of students. The international standing of the Gold and Silversmithing Studio at RMIT has drawn practitioners from around the world, who in turn have enabled our graduates to reshape the world around them.
Using a praxis focus, our programs have been developed in partnership with industry, enabling our students to engage with the ‘world of work’. Yet this world is ever changing, as the impact of automation, new technologies and increasing environmental concerns change the nature of work. The 2018 study for the World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report, identified ‘analytical thinking and innovation, active learning and learning strategies, creativity, originality and initiative’ as the most important three skills for the workforce of 2022.
A ‘masterclass’ is perhaps the fulcrum of these: a catalysed space where advanced thinking meets advanced making. As well as growing as practitioners in gold, silver and other materials, these classes enable new forms of practice and indeed, new forms of practitioners to emerge. Learnings from the jeweller’s bench can be, indeed need to be, re-scaled to address the challenges and opportunities all-around. By drawing on our shared histories, crafts and cultures, we can reimagine the future.
The Gold and Silversmithing Studio is a flagship for the School of Art, a proud point of difference, and an enabler of new research agendas and partnerships. My thanks to the curator, Dr Mark Edgoose, and our colleagues at RMIT Gallery for their celebration of this community of masterful makers, past, present and future.
Top: Aerial view MasterMakers
Bottom: Installation image Robert Baines, Ian Ferguson, Stefano Marchetti and Michael Wong (front to back)
Left:
Top: Installation image MasterMakers
Bottom: Installation image Inari Kiuru’s Sketches 2011-14 focusing on the element of air, and including ideas from the RMIT masterclasses by David Bielander and Lucy
Installation image Chris Massey Celebrity Glow Compact
Working the field:
RMIT’s Master Workshops
Julie EwingtonSince the early 1980s, RMIT’s Gold & Silversmithing department has hosted master workshops bringing leading makers to Melbourne to share skills, methods and philosophies of making. Hundreds of Australian (and occasionally international) makers have typically spent a working week together making, talking, and forging connections. The influence of the workshops on contemporary jewellery and gold and silversmithing in this country has been profound. Starting in a time when international contact and communication was not immediate and constant, as it is today, the persistent regularity of RMIT’s workshop series has focused energies, leading to productive cross-pollination over time.
How to cultivate a field?
Contemporary jewellers in Australia have always been a notably energised and organised field, According to both Emeritus Professor Ray Stebbins (Gold & Silversmithing’s leader throughout the 1980s and 1990s) and longtime lecturer Marian Hosking, the energy of the Goethe-Institut Australia’s promotion of German contemporary jewellers at that time was important; the late Hermann Jünger’s workshop in Melbourne in 1982 was particularly influential.1 Importantly, Stebbins argues, local energies were decisive, and the workshops were always nested in activities including conferences and exhibitions. Stebbins recalls that exchanges between Australian jewellers and lectures by visitors from interstate were the firm foundation on which later invitations to international practitioners were based. Hosking adds that the Australia Council’s Crafts Board was proactive at the time, supporting communication between makers. Yet these events, no matter how stimulating, were isolated and fortuitous. So how did the RMIT workshops eventually come to be such a force?
Communication is the key. And difference.
The RMIT workshops are based in an educational institution, and have offered students, teachers, and practitioners from the wider community a steady succession of makers whose works and methods diverge from familiar teachers and local makers, offering what Stebbins describes as ‘alternate visual languages, new technologies and differing educational methodologies’.
This refreshing diversity is invaluable in the art school context, where finding a mentor or soul mate is important at the beginning of a practice, but all workshops of this sort trust serendipity to work its occasional magic. To that end, which is an expression of determined generosity, an astonishing variety of makers have led the RMIT workshops, from the United Kingdom, the USA, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. To take just several instances: in 2002 Australian artist Ian Ferguson, led a highly influential workshop in Japanese mokume-gane technique; Elizabeth Turrell, from the UK, brought her exceptional expertise in enameling to Melbourne in 2013; and the title of Munich-based David Bielander’s playful workshop: How to Make a Ripsnorter: classic old world skills meet new ideas, in 2011, suggests how the workshops have expanded horizons by offering a broad range of techniques, methods and philosophies. In 2016 Peter Hoogeboom introduced his unique techniques for using ceramics in jewellery, while in 2011 the French jeweller, writer, and curator Benjamin Lignel brought his distinctive conceptual interrogation to the series, asking participants to examine (among other ideas) incomplete objects, following theorists Roland Barthes and Umberto Eco in the notion of the ‘open oeuvre’.
Conceptual vigour has long been allied in the workshop series to technical excellence. In flyers advertising workshops, I noted consistent emphasis on the imaginative and the conceptual: in 2011, Manon van Kouswijk from the Netherlands asked, ‘How do objects define us?’ and in 2007, noting ‘The workshop is not about found objects’, the renowned South African born and now German based artist, Daniel Kruger, aimed to develop ‘an understanding of concept and idea derived by investigating made objects’. Emeritus Professor Robert Baines has recently remarked that ‘The Daniel Kruger workshop was most significant in that his language with the ‘everyday’ and its transferral to precious, was a lovely methodology for students to absorb.’ Indeed, each workshop leader offered a distinctive approach, and each attracted dedicated participants.
The effects on Workshops participants have been profound and long-lasting.2 MasterMakers curator Mark Edgoose, Senior Lecturer, Gold & Silversmithing, says the master class makes the work “real, right here, in Melbourne, and that was especially the case in the early days when travel was less frequent, and links not yet established”. Continuing this theme, Hosking comments that the workshops make ‘connections with other people…the sense of a community…in Australia and elsewhere…’ Importantly, she says, ‘it’s uncomfortable to be put among peers and asked to do something out of one’s comfort zone – it’s beneficial for personal development… because it is with one’s peers, as much as the person taking it.”
The influence was also pedagogical. Carlier Makigawa, a long-time lecturer at RMIT, remembers from 1982:
I was observing Herman [Jünger] as a teacher and was impressed by his ability to find something special in each student. Some participants already were strong artists but for others he encouraged them to focus on and investigate a material or form or idea until it was their unique expression.
For me as a teacher this was an invaluable experience.
At an experiential level, the workshops are valued. Susan Buchanan remembers Marc Monzó’s teaching in 2017:
Each of these insights has the effect of allowing you to see your work and that of others with a sharper and more critical lens. You don’t know what you don’t see until you are given these ‘better glasses’.
And Leah Teschendorff says of Peter Bauhuis’s 2015 workshop: As a visiting artist Peter prised our minds open to a totally new way of approaching making in the studio, intellectually and tacitly. A new way of seeing, feeling and experiencing materials and techniques.3
Dianne Beevers, a participant in workshops over several decades, sums it up well: Master classes offer the optimum, immersive experience of accelerated professional development in a tight time frame, led by a leading practitioner, in an often unaccustomed environment and alongside a new cohort of practitioners to engage with. This last aspect is formative in creating a richer community of professionals, beyond the participant’s normal realm.
In short, she says, ‘RMIT master classes are essentially enabling.’
Some memories are particularly sharp: Hosking recalls Otto Künzli’s 1990 request that participants, ‘make a piece for an important person’, and Sue Lorraine’s crown for her sister; Edgoose recalls Bin Dixon-Ward first learning 3-D printing in a workshop run by American artist Nicole Jacquard in 2010, with profound effects on her subsequent direction; current postgraduate student Cara Johnson says her ‘aha’ moment was in 2014, ‘When Lucy Sarneel encouraged me to transform materials into forms that meant something to me.’
Collegiality is an important legacy
A precious legacy of these workshops is being part of a community of makers and kindred spirits who nevertheless prize discrepant decisions about what they make. Edgoose thinks the workshops opened peoples’ eyes to strategies of working, and there’s no other way to get this than through a hands-on workshop; he finds the workshop infectious, ‘…being together as a group, wanting to test and explore ideas.’ Kirsten Haydon, Studio Leader Gold & Silversmithing has noticed that the workshops have led to deeper relationships between artists and centres: ‘Robert Baines worked very strongly with Karl Fritsch and continues to; Helen Britton is a current adjunct at RMIT and Mark Edgoose and Helen often communicate…Mark, Nick Bastin and I have also led study tours and visited the studios of master class artists with RMIT Gold & Silversmithing study tours to Europe - Lucy Sarneel, David Clarke, Helen Britton and David Bielander.’ As Hosking points out, Otto Künzli’s 1990 visit led Australian students to Munich, including Donna Brennan, Sally Marsland, Alex Murray-Leslie, David Selkirk and Helen Britton. Workshop leaders also gained from participating: Lucy Sarneel (the Netherlands) remarked ‘For me it’s always a great pleasure to give a workshop, to encourage student’s talents and to be in this energetic “bubble” together, like a big family. To me it’s a reciprocal learning process.’; and Julie Blyfield from Adelaide, one of a handful of Australian workshop leaders, offered ‘a process of drawing, model making and interpretation in metal - chasing texturing and hammering...’ and noted the energy of her large group ‘they made lots of things in five days’.
Today Melbourne is a key site
In a global network of contemporary jewellery makers, wearers, collectors, Melbourne has a reputation as one of a small number of major centres for exceptional contemporary jewellery practice. The RMIT workshops undoubtedly built on the city’s history as a site for art and design, including fashion and accessories, but they also expressed the driving energy of the contemporary jewellery field, nationally and internationally. Gallery Funaki, opening in 1995 under the direction of the late Mari Funaki, was integral to Melbourne’s growing eminence, crucially contributing to the success of the master workshops. Many jewellers visiting for workshops, including Peter Hoogeboom in 2016, were given solo exhibitions at Gallery Funaki to coincide.4 Workshop leaders always gave public lectures, an additional contribution to the city’s creative life. More recently the Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewellery, instituted in 2014, and the biennial city-wide event Radiant Pavilion, since 2015, have strengthened Melbourne’s claim to global significance in the field.
RMIT’s master workshops, with the sustained support of RMIT Gold & Silversmithing, have been crucial in the development and consolidation of this hub over the last three decades. This legacy of talking, working, thinking, and sharing, despite marked differences of opinion, undoubtedly creates a community. As Baines says of the workshop series, ‘It enriched the local jewellery culture.’
In bringing together works by leaders and participants in RMIT’s master workshops, this exhibition evokes the impact they had on Melbourne’s cultural landscape. MasterMakers registers the profusion of philosophies of making that the city has welcomed. It’s a fine foundation for future growth.
Endnotes
1. Quoted opinions are from interviews with the author, August, 2019
2. I have long observed the liberating role of visiting artists on art students. Working at Canberra School of Art between 1986–1994, I watched Robert Boynes consistently introduce visiting teachers to his painting workshop, and the broader workshop program including ceramics and gold and silver, welcoming visitors such as Otto Künzli in 1990.
3. Leah Teschendorff’s recollections emailed to Helen Rayment (RMIT Gallery) and Mark Edgoose 17 July 2019.
4. Robert Baines noted to the author that in Damian Skinner and Kevin Murray’s Place and Adornment: A History of Contemporary Jewellery in Australia and New Zealand (2014) it is erroneously stated that Gallery Funaki brought the workshop artists to Australia.
Installation image video by Gilda Jones for Eli Giannini and Lindy McSwan’s Watch your Manners
Ruby Aitchison Australia
Untitled, 2019 Eggplant, mirror, mild steel Courtesy of the artist
Helen Aitken-Kuhnen AustraliaMushroom Brooches Revisited, 2017 Sterling silver, vitreous enamel Courtesy of Artist
Robert Baines AustraliaPerception 2, 2017 Gold 750 Private collection, Melbourne
Steampunk from the Cosmos, 2016 (Finalist Loewe Craft Prize 2016) Gold 750 Courtesy of the artist
Neckpiece 3 x 1=1, No.2., 2015 Silver, powdercoat, electroplate, paint Courtesy of the artist
Nicholas Bastin Australia
Black Celery Insect, 2013 925 silver, stainless steel, BioResin, polyurethane resin, enamel paint, glitter, synthetic white spinel
Pink Egg, 2013 18ct gold, polyurethane resin, BioResin, wood, collected plastic object, nylon thread Courtesy of the artist
Doris Betz GermanyBananaboat brooch, 2011 Silver, lacquer Private collection, Melbourne
Pink bombs brooch, 2011 Silver, lacquer Private collection, Melbourne
Foxtale necklace, 2016 Sterling silver, tombac Private collection
Renee Bevan New ZealandThe Rubber Band Project (bracelet for Neke), 2015 – ongoing Pounamu, rubber band
The Rubber Band Project (bracelet for Sarah), 2015 – ongoing Photographic print (documentation, worn by Hand Therapist)
The Rubber Band Project (bracelet for Andrea), 2015 – ongoing Holy Bible, rubber band Courtesy of the artist
David Bielander Switzerland / Germany
cardboard (watch), 2015 Silver patinated, white gold staples Courtesy of the artist
paper bag (sugar), 2016 Patinated sterling silver Private collection, Melbourne
Helen Britton Australia / Germany
Untitled, 2011 Silver, gold plated
Untitled, 2011 Silver, gold plated
Untitled, 2011 Silver, paint Courtesy of the artist
Sue Buchanan Australia
flower drawing #2, from bloom series, 2017
Mild steel wire, stainless steel flower, black #21, from tin flowers series, 2017 Tin-coated steel, stainless steel, enamel
flower drawings #5 and #6, from a dozen flowers series, 2018 Mild steel wire, stainless steel
flower drawing #8, from a dozen flowers series, 2018 Mild steel wire, stainless steel
bobby neckpiece, 2017 Steel wire Courtesy of the artist
Melissa Cameron Australia
covertly protesting the citizenry, 2017 Stainless steel, vitreous enamel, titanium
Peter
Bauhuis GermanyDouble cast vessel, 2001 Silver, copper
Double cast vessel, 2002 Silver, copper
Double cast vessel, 2002 Silver, copper Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Funaki
Dianne Beevers Australia
2, or 3, Strands of Pearls, 2018 Galvanised vintage iron vessel (bucket), cultured baroque pearls
REFLECTor /PROJECTor, 2018 925 silver Courtesy of the artist
Julie Blyfield AustraliaBlack Pea necklace, 2016
Oxidised sterling silver, wax, gold plate, sterling silver, cable Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Funaki
Leaf Stack, 2013
Oxidised sterling silver, wax Courtesy of the artist
Banksia, 2013
Oxidised sterling silver, paint, wax Courtesy of the artist
Zoe Brand Australia
A fellow member, 2018
Powder coated steel, aluminium, paint, adhesive labels with ‘mate’ handwritten by the artist Courtesy of the artist
covertly protesting the government, 2018 Stainless steel, vitreous enamel, titanium Courtesy of the artist
Bifei Cao China / USA
Clock?, 2018 Australia brand baby milk powder, wood glue, copper plated silver, thread
Trace, 2017 Australia brand baby milk powder, wood glue, fine silver, stainless steel Courtesy of the artist
Pamela Chan Australia
Moon Gatherer, 2014 Mild steel, fine silver, sterling silver, stainless steel
Model (Julie Blyfield Masterclass), 2013 Copper, potassium sulphide, microcrystalline wax Courtesy of the artist
Yu Fang Chi Taiwan / Australia
The Nerve Ending series, 2015–2019 Fine silver Courtesy of the artist
David Clarke United Kingdom
BLOW Spoons, 2015 Pewter, silver plate
DRIP jug, 2012 Pewter, silver plate Private collection, Newcastle, NSW
Match Pair, 2018 Lead and pewter mix Courtesy of the artist
Anna Clynes Australia
Souvenir, 2000 Stainless steel, paint
Muurbloempje 2000, 2019 Monel 400 Courtesy of the artist
Katie Collins Australia
At night I would think of all that happened during the day, series, 2016–2019 Mild steel, sterling silver, vitreous enamel, zinc, silk cord Courtesy of the artist
Conversation Piece – Nicolas Cheng & Beatrice Brovia Hong Kong / Sweden & Italy / Sweden
Gold Rush, 2018 Fine silver, gold-plated quartz crystal, nylon
Black Box, 2019 Jet, silver, reflective thread, aluminium, glass
Courtesy of the artists and Galerie Maurer Zilioli
Anna Davern Australia
The Treasurer of His Majesty’s Household, 2011 Biscuit tins, printed steel, copper, garnet and ruby beads
The Duke of Devonshire, 2011 Biscuit tins, printed steel, copper, garnet and ruby beads
A Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, 2011 Biscuit tins, printed steel, copper, garnet and ruby beads Courtesy of the artist
Helen Dilkes AustraliaMultiplicity... Riemann surface with hole, 2015 Aluminium (anodised), 950 platinum, 792 gold
Riemann surface puffier... transparent, 2017 Resin, silk, linen Courtesy of the artist
Bin Dixon-Ward Australia
Bluestone with wireframe, 2018 Nylon, ink
Ghost Sites, 2018 Nylon, ink box ring, 2010 SLS Nylon box ring, 2010 PLA-FDM box ring, 2010 Digital Print Courtesy of the artist
Joungmee Do South Korea / Australia
Mountain I, 2017 Fine gold, steel Courtesy of the artist
Mark Edgoose Australia
Moveable Rail, 2018 Titanium, Perspex, niobium Courtesy of the artist
Fijian Iguana, 2014 Painted brass mesh, sterling silver, tiger’s eye stone Private collection, Adelaide
Ian Ferguson AustraliaAluminium Bowl #7, (Amaze-in Aluminium), 1999 925 silver, aluminium mokumé gane
Burning Bowl, 2000 925 silver, copper/iron mokumé gane
Coffer for the Ferryman (Charon’s Moneybox), 1998 925 silver, copper/iron mokumé gane Courtesy of the artist
Karl Fritsch Germany / New Zealand
Untitled, 2005 Silver cast
Untitled, 2005 Silver cast, rubies, sapphires
Untitled, 2005 Silver, glass stones, enamel paint
Emi Fukuda Japan
5x5, 2019 Glass, plastic, pigment, steel
5x5, 2019 Glass, plastic, pigment, steel Courtesy of the artist
Eli Giannini & Chris Massey Australia & USA / Australia / United Kingdom
Toggle, 2016 Sterling silver, rubber, reflector Private Collection, Melbourne
Eli Giannini & Lindy McSwan Australia
Watch your Manners, 2019 Chocolate, edible silver powder Video work by Gilda Jones. 3D modelling by Aaron Little (MGS Architects)
Chocolate making by Janine Sang (Secret Chocolate Society) Courtesy of the artists
Sian Edwards AustraliaAtmosphere brooches (produced during masterclass with Lucy Sarneel), 2013 Cardboard, ink, pastel crayons
Nurture/Nature ceramic beads (produced during masterclass with Peter Hoogeboom), 2016 Porcelain clay, stain, rubber cord Courtesy of the artist
Kiko Gianocca Switzerland
What goes around, 2013 Wool, found objects (various bouncing balls and marbles) Courtesy of the artist
Allona Goren Australia
the Big Bang and you, 2017–2019 Mild steel, High Impact Polystyrene, paint
the Big Bang and you, 2017–2019 Mild steel, paint
Play Object #01 white, 2011 Wood, plastic, silver, enamel paint
Play Object #02 pearl, 2011 Wood, plastic, silver, enamel paint Courtesy of the artist
Rowena Gough Australia
Channel Tryst Rope, 1997 925 silver, vintage 2-hole buttons (c.1910) Trochus shell
Mourning Veil / Ollie’s Veil, 2019 925 silver, haematite, steel, river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) Courtesy of the artist
Wayne Guest Australia
Wrapped Container, 2018 Stainless steel, copper
Wrapped Container prototypes, 2017 Aluminium
Wrapped Container prototypes, 2017 Copper
Wrapped Container prototype, 2017 Cardboard
Wrapped Container, 2017 Sketch on paper Courtesy of the artist
Caz Guiney with Fiona Fitzgerald, Lynley Traeger and Katherine Bowman Australia
Same shit, different day, 2019 Recycled 18ct yellow gold, photographic prints Courtesy of the artists
Marcos Guzman Australia
Everything is designed, 2017 Tracing paper, coloured pencil Courtesy of the artist
Mary Hackett Australia
Conduit, 2011 Copper and steel Courtesy of the artist
Kirsten Haydon New Zealand / Australia
Connected by the sea, 2003 Silver, copper, iron, stainless steel
The bach, 1999 Silver, copper, iron Courtesy of the artist
Peter Hoogeboom Netherlands
Blue Lantern, 2015 Porcelain, silver
Finger Cot Hulu, 2015 Porcelain, silver
Sacrifice 3, 2017 Porcelain, silver, rubber, nylon Courtesy of the artist
Marian Hosking Australia
Slate and silver object, 1982 Slate and silver
Metung pin, 1982 Copper
Swivel brooch, 1985 Gold bi-metal 925 silver
Double brooch, 2019 925 silver and mother of pearl Courtesy of the artist
Pink Crystal, 2016
Polypropylene, acrylic, silver, steel, foil
Blue Crystal, 2016 Polypropylene, acrylic, silver, steel, foil
Model, 2015 Polypropylene, acrylic, foil, thread
Building 4 window, 2015 Digital print Courtesy of the artist
Linda Hughes Australia
Advance Necklace 3, 2005 Laminate, acrylic, 925 silver, steel Courtesy of the artist
David Huycke Belgium
Kissing Bowls, 2006 925 silver patinated Courtesy of the artist
Naoko Inuzuka Japan / Australia
I’m saturated, 2015 Sterling silver, copper W.E. McMillan Collection, RMIT University
Where have I gone, 2015 Sterling silver, copper W.E. McMillan Collection, RMIT University
Kazuhiro Itoh Japan
Untitled, 1995 Wood, pure gold foil and zinc Private collection, Melbourne
Nicole Jacquard USA
The Graduate, 2017
Laser etched mica, copper enamel, acrylic, silver, stainless steel
State Champ, 2018
Laser etched mica, copper enamel, acrylic, silver, stainless steel
Millie, 2018
Laser etched mica, copper enamel, acrylic, silver, stainless steel Courtesy of the artist
Katherine Hubble AustraliaTop:
Bottom:
Installation image Nicole Jacquard, The Graduate, State Champ and Millie (left to right)
Installation image Kirsten Haydon, Connected by the sea, The bach
Tassia Joannides Australia
Evening Shawl, 2019 Second hand underwear, thread
The Long Necklace, 2019 Second hand underwear, thread
Partie Apron, 2019 Second hand underwear, thread Courtesy of the artist
Cara Johnson Australia
unearth II, 2019 Paper, iron, handmade paper thread Courtesy of the artist
Jarosite Track (vessels), 2015 Paper thread, iron, fine silver, dirt W.E. McMillan Collection, RMIT University
Hermann Jünger Germany
Brooch, 1989 Gold, tombac alloy Lent by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney. Purchased with funds donated by Deutsche Bank Australia 1990
Jiro Kamata Japan / Germany
Ghost, 2018 Mirror, quartz coating, silver Private collection, Melbourne
BI Necklace, 2014 Dichroic filter, silver Courtesy of the artist
Jung-Hoo Kim South Korea
Brooches, 1995 Silver 925, 24ct gold, steel Private collection, Melbourne
Inari Kiuru Finland / Australia
Guam morning! The missile surprise of 2017, 2017 Mild steel, hand-spun by Bob Thomas
Sketches 2011–14, focusing on the element of air, and including ideas from the RMIT masterclasses by David Bielander and Lucy Sarneel Mixed materials
Courtesy of the artist
Wendy Korol Australia
Untitled neckpiece 1, 2019 Mixed materials
Untitled neckpiece 2, 2019 Mixed materials Courtesy of the artist
Daniel Kruger South Africa / Germany
Untitled, 2016 Silver, pigment
Untitled, 2007 Silver Courtesy of the artist Otto Künzli Switzerland / Germany
Spindle, 2007 Stainless steel Private collection, Melbourne Himmel, 2009 Stainless steel Private collection, Melbourne
Black Mickey Mouse, 1991 Polymethacrylimide foam, lacquer, steel Lent by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney. Purchased 1999
1492- when Mickey Mouse was born, 1992 Silicate, steel Lent by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney. Purchased 1999
Andrew Last Australia
Untitled, objects, 1995 Anodised aluminium Private collection, Melbourne
Benjamin Lignel France
Untitled (he said), 2019 Embroidered polyester thread, pins
Io ce l’ho d’oro (Yeah, but mine is gold), 2007 Stuffed bird (columbia Livia), fine gold Courtesy of the artist
Sue Lorraine Australia
Crown for St Anne, 1990 Wire and plaster bandages Courtesy of the artist
Carlier Makigawa Australia
Paper Mache brooch, 1985 Wood, paper, lacquer, stainless steel Courtesy of the artist
Stefano Marchetti Italy
Object, 2014 Mokumé parquetry: Mosaic lamination fine gold, fine silver W.E. McMillan Collection, RMIT University
Necklace, 2018 Mokumé parquetry: Mosaic lamination gold, silver Private collection, Sydney
Rings, 2001 Mokumé parquetry: Mosaic lamination and etching gold Private collection, Melbourne
Marion Marshall Australia
Brooch Inlay, 1990 Steel, 24ct gold Courtesy of the artist
Chris Massey USA / Australia / United Kingdom
Celebrity Glow Compact, 2014 Gombeira, fine silver, sterling silver, electronics, acrylic gemstones W.E. McMillan Collection, RMIT University
Claire McArdle Australia
Ribbons, 2012 Sterling silver, silk
Cone of Contemplation (meditative space), 2009 Silver, copper Courtesy of the artist
Kelly McDonald Australia / New Zealand
Machinery Position, 2019 Steel, brass (and steel spring)
Tensed, 2019 Steel (steel chain links and steel spring) Courtesy of the artist
Lindy McSwan Australia
The Steelworks 101, 2018 Mild steel, enamel, iron oxide
Vessel Studies, 2018–19 Paper, cardboard, acrylic, gouache, graphite Courtesy of the artist
Sam Mertens Australia
Tea Rex, 2019 925 silver, titanium Courtesy of the artist
Karl Millard Australia
data grinder, 2018 Copper and sterling silver
Brooch, Hermann Jünger workshop, 1982 Brass, copper, sterling silver Courtesy of the artist
Yutaka Minegishi Japan / Germany
twisted, 2019 Amber twisted, 2019 Amber
fruity, 2019 Amber Courtesy of the artist
Marc Monzó Spain
Gate, 2018 Silver, steel
Broken Stick, 2014 Silver, steel
Sun, 2014 18ct gold Courtesy of the artist
Shelley Norton New Zealand
Boxed brooch series, 2018 Deconstructed, knitted and melted plastic shopping bags, sterling silver, steel Courtesy of the artist
Michaela Pegum Australia
Calls, 2018
Velvet, copper, shibuichi, bamboo
Swell, 2018 Satin, copper, shibuichi
Subtle Body VI, 2018 Silk, copper, silver, shibuichi, bamboo
Sample 1, 2017 Shantung, copper
Sample 2, 2017 Velvet, copper
Sample 3, 2017 Crushed velvet, copper Sample 4, 2017 Silk, copper
Development photographs, 2017 Photographic prints Courtesy of the artist
Jana Roman Australia
Farmington (from the Topologies series), 2014
Reclaimed steel container, stainless steel, mild steel, 925 silver, shibuichi W.E. McMillan Collection, RMIT University
August, 2015 Repoussé reclaimed steel container W.E. McMillan Collection, RMIT University
Twisted Squidster, 2011 Reclaimed hand spun silk string, cotton
George, 2017 Reclaimed walnut
Wood You? experiments, 2017 Various timbers
Holey experiments, 2015 Wax, cuttlefish, copper Courtesy of the artist
Juggler’s Moment I, 2013
Zinc, cardboard, paper, wood, polyester ribbon, paint, varnish Private collection, Melbourne
Starry Sky Limousine Drive, 2013 Zinc, acrylic paint, varnish, lapis lazuli, wood and nylon thread Courtesy of the artist
Lucky Twister, 2012
Zinc, paint, varnish, mini-calabash, silk Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Funaki
Elise Sheehan Australia
Inviting Portal, 2017 Acrylic, foam core, pins, plasticine, porcelain, yellow stain
The start, all the things in the middle & the end, 2017 Brass, paint, plasticine Courtesy of the artist
Debbie Sheezel Australia
Mappings, 1996 Copper and enamel
Scent, 2005 Sterling silver, fine silver, 24ct gold, enamel
On the Wing, 2015 22ct, 24ct and 18ct gold, fine silver, sterling silver and faceted blue quartz Courtesy of the artist
Bettina SpecknerGermany
Untitled, 2016 Alutype, silver, white coral, moonstones
Untitled, 2010 Photo in enamel, silver, pearls
Untitled, 2009 Ferrotype, silver, ruby, ammonite, tiger’s eye Courtesy of the artist
Michelle Stewart Australia
Fossil Brooches, 2018 Recycled glass, recycled fine and sterling silver, stainless steel pin Courtesy of the artist
Lucy Sarneel NetherlandsBlack Umbellifer, 2007 Oxidised silver Private collection, Perth
Test piece/model, 2006 Mixed alloy Courtesy of the artist
Elizabeth Turrell United Kingdom
Memory Bowl, 2018 Vitreous enamel on steel
Panel: Lines & letters but no words, 2018 Vitreous enamel & porcelain on copper foil Courtesy of the artist
Renée Ugazio Australia
Re-surfacing, 2019 Collected ferric oxide from Melbourne CBD
Sanding the space between two buildings, 2015 Photographic print Courtesy of the artist
Manon van Kouswijk Netherlands / Australia
Pearl Grey, 2009 Porcelain, thread & diverse beads, wood glass plastic pearl Private collection, Canberra
No Worry Beads, 2011 Porcelain, thread Private collection, Canberra
Making Faces, 2018 Porcelain, pigment, ceramic pencil, thread Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Funaki
Michael Wong Australia
Pull to Open, 2016
Sterling silver, brass, spring steel, stainless steel Courtesy of the artist
Slide to Open, 2016
Sterling silver, gilding metal, brass, copper, spring steel W.E. McMillan Collection, RMIT University
The Oiler, 2015
Sterling silver, brass, spring steel, stainless steel, nitrile rubber o-rings Courtesy of the artist
Aurelia Yeomans AustraliaCycles (series) (1), 2017
Mild steel, vitreous enamel, hematite, cubic zirconia, stainless steel
Cycles (series) (2), 2017 Mild steel, vitreous enamel, cast glass, stainless steel
Cycles (series) (3), 2017 Mild steel, vitreous enamel, hematite, stainless steel Courtesy of the artist
Top: Installation image Lindy McSwan, Vessel Studies
Bottom: Installation image Yu Fang Chi, The Nerve Ending series
Curated by Dr Mark Edgoose
Assistant Curator: Natasha Sutila Selection committee: Kirsten Haydon, Mark Edgoose and Natasha Sutila
RMIT Gallery
6 September – 9 November 2019
Acknowledgements: Special thanks to all the local and international artists who contributed to the RMIT master classes program which made MasterMakers possible. Thank you to our strong community of private collectors for the generous loan of works. Thanks also to Gallery Funaki and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. We warmly thank the following people for their guidance and support: Emeritus Professor Robert Baines; Alison Leach, Senior Manager, Partnerships and Industry Engagement; Professor Julian Goddard; Professor Paul Gough, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President; Bronwyn Hughes; Carlier Makigawa; Paula McDonald; Thao Nguyen; Chloë Powell; Katie Scott; Emeritus Professor Ray Stebbins; Professor Kit Wise, Dean School of Art. Appreciative thanks to Virginia Trioli for her opening speech and Julie Ewington for the catalogue essay.
RMIT Gallery / RMIT University www.rmitgallery.com
344 Swanston Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Tel: +61 3 9925 1717 Fax: +61 3 9925 1738
Email: rmit.gallery@rmit.edu.au
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday 11–5 Thursday 11–7 Saturday 12–5 Closed Sundays & public holidays. Free admission. Lift access available.
Catalogue published by RMIT Gallery October 2019, Edition Number 2000 978-0-6484226-6-2
Graphic design: Sean Hogan – Trampoline Catalogue editor: Helen Rayment Editorial Assistant: Natasha Sutila
All installation images photographed by Mark Ashkanasy ©RMIT Gallery
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present.