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2022 Robert Foster F!NK National Metal Prize

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<strong>2022</strong> <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong> F!<strong>NK</strong><br />

<strong>National</strong> <strong>Metal</strong> <strong>Prize</strong><br />

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre


Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre is partial supported by the ACT<br />

Government, the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy – an initiative<br />

of the Australian State and Territory Governments, and the<br />

Australia Council for the Arts – the Australian Government’s arts<br />

funding and advisory body.<br />

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre acknowledges the<br />

Ngunnawal people as the traditional custodians of the<br />

ACT and surrounding areas. We honour and respect<br />

their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to this<br />

country and the contribution they make to the life of this<br />

city and this region. We aim to respect cultural heritage,<br />

customs and beliefs of all Indigenous people.<br />

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre<br />

Tues–Fri 10am–5pm<br />

Saturdays 12–4pm<br />

Level 1, North Building, 180 London Circuit,<br />

Canberra ACT Australia<br />

+61 2 6262 9333<br />

www.craftact.org.au<br />

Cover image: Portrait of <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong>. Photo by Damian McDonald.


<strong>2022</strong> <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong> F!<strong>NK</strong><br />

<strong>National</strong> <strong>Metal</strong> <strong>Prize</strong><br />

Alison Jackson | Bic Tieu | Gretal Ferguson | Johannes Kuhnen |<br />

Jonathon Zalakos | Kirsten Haydon | Larah Nott | Lindy McSwan |<br />

Oliver Smith | Sean Booth<br />

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre<br />

27 October - 10 December <strong>2022</strong>


Image: Portrait of <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong> with Ossolites, 2010. Photo by Eddison Photographic Studio.


<strong>2022</strong> <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong> F!<strong>NK</strong> <strong>National</strong> <strong>Metal</strong> <strong>Prize</strong><br />

Craft ACT is honoured to present the new<br />

<strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong> F!<strong>NK</strong> national metal prize,<br />

supported by the Tall Foundation and F!<strong>NK</strong> +<br />

Co Director, Gretel Harrison, and Craft ACT:<br />

Craft + Design Centre.<br />

The award will celebrate outstanding work<br />

in the field of contemporary metal working<br />

by designers and craftspeople - both<br />

established and emerging. In recognition of<br />

the value of high-quality craft making skills,<br />

good design and innovation ten artists will<br />

be selected and have their work exhibited in<br />

the popular DESIGN Canberra Festival. From<br />

the finalists, three makers, representing an<br />

established artist, an emerging artist, and<br />

an acquisition, will be selected and awarded<br />

generous cash prizes.<br />

This program is generously supported by the<br />

Tall Foundation, F!<strong>NK</strong> + Co., and Craft ACT:<br />

Craft + Design Centre.<br />

Image: <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong>, Yes Sir Teapot, 2007. Photo Courtesy of F!<strong>NK</strong> + Co.


Image: <strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong>, Squashed Vessels. Photo Courtesy of F!<strong>NK</strong> + Co.


Gretel Harrison | Director F!<strong>NK</strong> Designs<br />

<strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong> (1962-2016) had a deep love for<br />

metal and exploring its endless possibilities<br />

and was prolific in his career spanning over 30<br />

years working from artistic tea pots, functional<br />

hollowware, furniture, lighting, jewellery and<br />

sculptural installations. <strong>Robert</strong> had a deep appreciation<br />

and understanding of metal and was<br />

able to manipulate it in numerous ways, creating<br />

amazing, organic shapes many would not<br />

normally associate with the material.<br />

<strong>Robert</strong> invited many emerging makers to work<br />

with him and collaborated with numerous<br />

artists and designers with metal as their focus.<br />

He was generous in taking on mentorships and<br />

internships and helped shape the development<br />

of the careers of many Australian artists and designers.<br />

He would give lunch time classes at the<br />

primary school where his daughters Ineska and<br />

Mischa attended and the students would line<br />

up every year to get into his classes. They were<br />

attracted to him like he was a rock star! He was<br />

committed to teaching and embracing the possibilities<br />

of metal as it was his religion and his<br />

magnetic personality (that’s a metal joke!) made<br />

it impossible not to be excited about metal.<br />

From the mid-1980s <strong>Robert</strong> became internationally<br />

recognised for his expressive yet functional<br />

hand-made forms. He founded F!<strong>NK</strong> +<br />

Co in 1993 with the aim of creating a design<br />

and manufacturing business that would support<br />

and generate opportunities for Australian<br />

designer-makers. Joined by Gretel Harrison in<br />

1995, together they built F!<strong>NK</strong> + Co. into the<br />

business it is today – a much loved and respected<br />

Australian design company with an international<br />

reputation for producing world-class<br />

tableware, hollowware, jewellery and lighting.<br />

Be it the iconic F!<strong>NK</strong> Water Jug, the squashed<br />

Storage Vessels, the graceful Coolamon Platters,<br />

the Ned Kelly-esque Wine Chiller or the subtle<br />

curves of the Beaker, every F!<strong>NK</strong> product melds<br />

refined craftsmanship with shapes and colours<br />

largely inspired by the Australian landscape –<br />

tropical corals and fish, endless blue skies and<br />

vast deserts. Today, F!<strong>NK</strong> + Co. is spearheaded<br />

by Gretel Harrison, who is not only the face of<br />

the company but who also leads a dynamic<br />

team of practitioners. The company has continued<br />

to go from strength to strength as Gretel<br />

and the F!<strong>NK</strong> staff builds on the legacy of <strong>Robert</strong><br />

<strong>Foster</strong>.<br />

<strong>Robert</strong> believed strongly in the value of working<br />

between art, design and manufacture,<br />

respecting both form and function, pushing<br />

material boundaries and creating innovative<br />

forming processes, always with an expression<br />

of optimism and recognising the importance<br />

sustainability and longevity. He will be remembered<br />

as an imaginative and resourceful designer,<br />

who also had the mind of an engineer<br />

who never let the words ‘not possible’ into his<br />

mindset.


Tragically, <strong>Robert</strong>’s life was taken from us in a<br />

car accident on 13 July 2016. Since this time, it<br />

has been Gretel’s focus to keep <strong>Robert</strong>’s legacy<br />

alive and to encourage others to invest in learning,<br />

experimenting and exploring the art of<br />

designing and making with metal. This is what<br />

he would have continued to do, if his life was<br />

not cut so short. At the time of his death he had<br />

numerous exciting plans and projects in front of<br />

him. Gretel wanted this prize and exhibition to<br />

not only celebrate the affection and admiration<br />

we all held for <strong>Robert</strong>, but to reflect his continuing<br />

influence and showcase the extraordinary<br />

talent and diversity of metal makers in Australia<br />

today, whilst also showing the breadth and<br />

depth of ways that metal can be formed.<br />

<strong>Robert</strong> was a long-term, respected and active<br />

member of Craft ACT. He became an Accredited<br />

Professional Member in 1993, so it seemed<br />

fitting to Gretel to collaborate with Craft ACT<br />

for this <strong>Metal</strong> <strong>Prize</strong> given their commitment<br />

to metal crafts and <strong>Robert</strong>’s great respect and<br />

admiration for the organization. The careers of<br />

all three of the <strong>Metal</strong> <strong>Prize</strong>’s judges have intertwined<br />

with <strong>Robert</strong>’s career and share his love<br />

for metal.<br />

As a journalist back in 1999, Ewan McEoin witnessed<br />

<strong>Robert</strong> explosive forming his vases out<br />

in a back paddock in Queanbeyan, instilling in<br />

him a love and respect for metal. He is now the<br />

Senior Curator of Contemporary Design and<br />

Architecture at <strong>National</strong> Gallery of Victoria.<br />

Brian Parkes and <strong>Robert</strong> crossed many paths<br />

starting when Brian was at the <strong>National</strong> Gallery<br />

of Australia in 1998, later at Object Gallery in<br />

Sydney and again as the Chief Executive Officer<br />

at The Jam Factory in Adelaide.<br />

Finally, this prize and exhibition would not be<br />

possible if it weren’t for the incredible generosity<br />

and support from Roger and Maxine Tall from<br />

the Tall Foundation. They have been incredibly<br />

supportive of the Canberra arts and craft community<br />

at large and have pledged their continuing<br />

support in the future so that this significant<br />

prize and exhibition can continue in the years<br />

ahead.<br />

Rohan Nicol collaborated with <strong>Robert</strong> back<br />

in 1998 on the FI<strong>NK</strong> Bracelet when he was an<br />

emerging metalsmith. They continued to be<br />

close associates during Rohan’s Time as the<br />

Head of the <strong>Metal</strong> Working Department at the<br />

Australian <strong>National</strong> University. Rohan is now the<br />

Associate Head of School, Creative Arts and Media,<br />

Associate Professor of Fine Art, University of<br />

Tasmania.


Alison Jackson | Two Vessels Converse | <strong>2022</strong><br />

The vessel as a concept can be viewed with<br />

many perspectives both in a literal practical<br />

sense and as an imagined form of containment.<br />

I like to use the idea of the vessel to<br />

explore form, function, anthropism but primarily<br />

the craft of silversmithing.<br />

Raising is the process of forming vessels<br />

from a single sheet of copper, an age old<br />

traditional silversmithing technique where the<br />

sheet metal is skilfully hammered in rounds on<br />

specialised steel forms. What can seem like<br />

a simple process with rudimentary tools is in<br />

fact a nuanced and skilled technique that is<br />

a dying craft. Each vessel has had thousands<br />

of hammer strikes applied to manipulate what<br />

was once a uniform flat sheet into a three-dimensional<br />

vessel form.<br />

My process is a conversation between materials,<br />

ideas and forms. It is often one of repetition,<br />

heat, hammer, heat, hammer. Heated<br />

to soften and hammered to form. It is both<br />

rhythmic and mediative, my technique is<br />

about allowing the vessel to emerge rather<br />

than having a rigid idea of the final form. I<br />

think of it as the vessel emerging out of the<br />

material and out my thoughts, emotions and<br />

instinct. Each hammer blow moves it closer<br />

to a resolved form but also an individuality, it<br />

asserts itself and I start to think of them as<br />

characters. I often make pieces in pairs; this<br />

is because once the vessel leaves my hands<br />

the conversation between maker and vessel<br />

stops and a new dialog between the two<br />

vessels can begin.<br />

Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Bic Tieu | Flowers Between | <strong>2022</strong><br />

Using the format of a vase as a tangible<br />

metaphor to articulate in-betweenness. The<br />

vase as an ornamental container to display<br />

flowers changes by what is placed in the<br />

vessel. Similarly, this notion can be related to<br />

the framing of one’s identity living in-between<br />

and of cultures. This work is an exploration<br />

of myself as a Southeast Asian – Australian<br />

woman living between two cultures.<br />

The vessel design is a reflection of my<br />

experiences, my identity and the intercultural<br />

connections of life living between the eastern<br />

and western cultural spheres. I acknowledge<br />

the reality that exists ‘in-between’ and<br />

this work expresses a visual and material<br />

framework for my ongoing interest and<br />

belief in the value of the shared experience.<br />

Through living between these I revel<br />

The re-positioning and layered arrangement<br />

of the emblematic motif of deconstructed<br />

peonies are contextualized with Australian<br />

floral natives including fan flower, flannel<br />

flower, kangaroo paw, sturt desert pea,<br />

waratah and wattle. These motifs have a<br />

deep historical association with Asia and<br />

Australia connecting place, cultures and<br />

movement and metaphorically contribute to<br />

the layered meanings with identity.<br />

The design of the surface tension creates a<br />

dialogue for the Australian Southeast Asian<br />

diaspora, but more importantly, becomes<br />

instruments for articulating cultures that exist<br />

‘in-between’ cultural spaces.<br />

in the creative and metallurgical processes<br />

that inform my art and design practice.<br />

The surface design language is developed<br />

through a series of processes where I begin<br />

with collecting and rendering of flowers<br />

using digital graphic application. Through<br />

the illustration, I then take this into the laser<br />

cutting of components in which I use lost wax<br />

casting for metal alloys of silver and mixing<br />

of gold and copper into the composition.<br />

Numerous cast components are then further<br />

manipulated, cut and soldered to form the<br />

final sheet pattern. I then take this sheet to<br />

construct the final geometric form through a<br />

process of silver soldering to formulate the<br />

final form.<br />

The imagery on the vase draws on both<br />

eastern and western floral motifs endemic to<br />

my cultures to construct a visual language.


Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Gretel Ferguson | Out of Frame 1 | <strong>2022</strong><br />

After completing an Advanced Diploma of<br />

Jewellery and Object Design at Design Centre<br />

Enmore in Sydney, Gretal Ferguson moved to<br />

the UK to complete her Masters in Jewellery,<br />

Silversmithing, and Related Products at Birmingham<br />

City University’s School of Jewellery.<br />

On her return to Australia Ferguson moved to<br />

Adelaide and completed the 2 year Associate<br />

Programme at JamFactory where she now<br />

shares a private studio.<br />

Raised and formed to resemble the metal in<br />

its molten pre-worked state, the piece spills<br />

from an ornate gold frame, a placeholder for<br />

the artwork that once was. The laboriously<br />

hammered form is left blank and without<br />

function, suggesting the growing absence of<br />

skills required to rework it.<br />

Ferguson creates conceptual exhibition work<br />

using traditional craft skills in a sculptural setting,<br />

challenging the utilitarian traditions of her<br />

craft while honouring what came before. With<br />

the material process an integral part of her<br />

conceptual motivation, Ferguson embraces<br />

the arduous nature of silversmithing, using the<br />

hours of hammering to explore the work both<br />

aesthetically and conceptually, allowing it to<br />

unfold in a way it wouldn’t if the process was<br />

quick and less laborious.<br />

Out of Frame explores what happens when<br />

the intrinsic value of an objects’ material is<br />

seen to be more precious than the centuries<br />

of tradition involved in its creation. Throughout<br />

history metalwork has been melted down to<br />

create new objects or be hoarded in bank<br />

vaults, disregarding the original craftsperson’s<br />

hand, most only seeing value in the material<br />

itself. Yet as fewer artisans carry on these<br />

skills and traditions, we are in danger of losing<br />

the craft completely.<br />

This new work questions the future of silversmithing<br />

traditions. Though appearing to<br />

be silver the metal is actually plated copper,<br />

a result of artisans being priced out of their<br />

craft as their medium is a traded commodity.<br />

Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Johannes Kuhnen | Vessel <strong>2022</strong> | <strong>2022</strong><br />

Johannes Kuhnen is one of Australia’s most<br />

well-recognised gold and silversmiths.<br />

Coming from a well-developed European<br />

tradition, his contribution to Australian silver<br />

and jewellery, and hence Australian design,<br />

has been profound and has firmly established<br />

Kuhnen’s wok on an international platform.<br />

Johannes Kuhnen was the former head of<br />

the gold and silversmithing workshop at the<br />

Australian <strong>National</strong> University. Johannes has<br />

exhibited widely throughout Australia and<br />

overseas in both group and solo exhibitions.<br />

His work is held in the collections of the<br />

<strong>National</strong> Gallery of Australia, Canberra, the<br />

<strong>National</strong> Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, the<br />

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, the Art Gallery<br />

of Western Australia, Perth, Museum für<br />

Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Museum<br />

Boymans-van-Beunigen, Rotterdam,<br />

Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz,<br />

Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin, the Victoria<br />

and Albert Museum, London, the <strong>National</strong><br />

Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Die Neue<br />

Sammlung, the design museum at Pinakothek<br />

der Moderne, Munich.<br />

Johannes’ practice has remained at the<br />

forefront of innovation, in particular his<br />

pioneering use of anodised aluminium. A<br />

fascination with the colour options of the<br />

aluminium as well as titanium continue to<br />

provide inspiration for his work and has<br />

also inspired many others to explore such<br />

potential. Johannes’s current practice<br />

continues to capture his mastery and sense<br />

of understanding of what you can do with<br />

hard materials such as titanium, which<br />

currently takes a leading role in his objects<br />

and wearable art.


Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Jonathon Zalakos | Hydroformed Sake Set | <strong>2022</strong><br />

Jonathon Zalakos is an emerging artist and<br />

contemporary jeweller based in Canberra,<br />

Australia, on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land.<br />

He seeks to integrate traditional goldsmithing<br />

materials and techniques with contemporary<br />

practices and philosophical thought. His work<br />

takes the form of jewellery, interactive objects,<br />

digital media and installation. Jonathon is particularly<br />

interested in how meaning is co-produced<br />

through the processes of expression<br />

and perception. This drives exploration into<br />

the visual language of cultural phenomena<br />

including contemporary pop jewellery culture,<br />

online viral media and the two-way relationship<br />

between the human and manufactured<br />

worlds. These concepts are deconstructed<br />

and reassembled so as to consider the different<br />

worlds we occupy with our bodies and<br />

minds.<br />

My application for this prize is inspired by<br />

<strong>Robert</strong> <strong>Foster</strong>’s own pursuit of craft innovation<br />

and aesthetically streamlined design. For<br />

me, this means embracing curiosity, experimentation<br />

and a keen eye for finishing details.<br />

I explore hydroforming as a manufacturing<br />

technique - a method of ‘inflating’ closed<br />

metal vessels with pressurised water so as to<br />

create complex hollow forms. Typically this is<br />

done with tube in heavy dies to create repeatable<br />

and precise components: car exhaust<br />

pipes for example. I integrate classic silversmithing<br />

processes to create hollow forms<br />

that are then inflated like balloons, where the<br />

final shape is unpredictable and emergent.<br />

A tension between divergent properties of<br />

liquid are captured in the process as the jug<br />

and cups seem to be nearly bursting at the<br />

seams, yet remain completely functional for<br />

containing and gently pouring out sake.<br />

Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Kirsten Haydon | Ice Draw | <strong>2022</strong><br />

Kirsten Haydon investigates the potential<br />

of gold and silversmithing to communicate<br />

human experience and connections with<br />

the environment. Kirsten Haydon completed<br />

a PhD in 2009 and has been teaching at<br />

the School of Fine Art, RMIT University in<br />

Melbourne since 2002. Kirsten travelled to<br />

Antarctica as a New Zealand Antarctic Arts<br />

Fellow in 2005. Her art practice, crafts and<br />

explores connections and observations of<br />

the environment through concepts of historic<br />

photography and micromosaics. Site and<br />

archival studies inform works which aim to<br />

engage the act of remembering and the<br />

fragile futures of ice by assembling and<br />

drawing on metal and enamel surfaces.<br />

Ice has a salient condition in the preserving<br />

and storing of atmospheric knowledge<br />

and histories within its structure. Through<br />

precipitation, ice, and its inclusions both<br />

the micro and macro are created from the<br />

surrounding environment and atmosphere,<br />

this provides details about the moment the<br />

ice was formed.<br />

Glacial ice is considered mono-mineralic rock<br />

and is the metamorphism of thousands of<br />

individual snowflakes into crystals of glacier<br />

ice. Over ninety percent of the earth’s glaciers<br />

are in Antarctica, a mass of ice forms, all<br />

these landscapes are locked, holding water<br />

droplets in freezing conditions. As global<br />

temperatures rise these landscapes begin to<br />

fall away, ice once stored is then released as<br />

individual water droplets dispersing into the<br />

ocean and evaporating into the clouds high<br />

above.<br />

Ice Draw is a response to two experiences<br />

of fieldwork. First was the immense and<br />

macro experience of standing beneath the<br />

gigantic ice wall known as the Barne Glacier<br />

on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The<br />

second, reflecting on the micro investigations<br />

undertaken by international climate scientists<br />

in 2012 at the GNS Ice Core Research<br />

Laboratory in Wellington. Standing and<br />

seeing for myself the handling of precious<br />

individual ice cores being manually cut and<br />

sectioned before being melted sequentially<br />

in a controlled environment. This process led<br />

to the collection of atmospheric data and<br />

individual water droplets to investigate the<br />

stability of the Ross Ice Shelf.<br />

Ice draw is created to depict ice landscapes<br />

and connect with concept of archiving,<br />

preservation and holding. Draw has many<br />

meanings, and in this work, draw connects<br />

with the notion that ‘to draw’ or ‘draw up’<br />

takes or obtains liquid from a container.<br />

The work Ice draw references the drawer<br />

as a container not a static archival drawer<br />

but a porous work comprised of parts and<br />

elements.<br />

Perforated, hand drawn and etched, the<br />

heat blackened Layered steel containers are<br />

transitional and changing. The containers are<br />

scaffolded fragments that depict sections<br />

of the Barne Glacier as it was in 2004.<br />

The enamelled image is reflective when<br />

experienced, as the micro glass reflector<br />

beads produce retro-reflection, a type of<br />

reflection that redirects incident light from the<br />

surface back to the source. The enamelled<br />

microspheres represent the countless<br />

individual snowflakes or drops of water that<br />

combine to form the Barne Glacier. The<br />

boundaries of the transparent spheres<br />

reference the unique precious souvenir<br />

micromosaics depictions of significant<br />

landscapes.


Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Larah Nott | Pleat One | <strong>2022</strong><br />

Pleat: a double or multiple fold in a garment or<br />

other item made of cloth<br />

My practice is always evolving. Working with<br />

geometric and architecture inspired shapes<br />

I produce large wearable pieces in titanium<br />

and mild steel. Another part of my practice<br />

is vessels. I enjoy working at a larger scale,<br />

pushing materials and working with shadow<br />

and depth. Previous works have explored<br />

light and dark, where light falls and shadow<br />

prevails. The flow of line is important to the<br />

scale and materials of the work.<br />

This new work, Pleat, is a further exploration<br />

in to materials and form. During research<br />

for this piece, I wanted to expand upon the<br />

fold concept and found pleating the material<br />

added a vibrancy and movement to the work.<br />

The eye wants to travel around and explore<br />

the work. I am asking a lot of the materials,<br />

designing with industry and using a combination<br />

of modern and traditional techniques. My<br />

practice is always a balance of machine and<br />

handmade, a joining of traditional and new<br />

ways of working with materials.<br />

Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Lindy McSwan | To Cart Carry Convey | <strong>2022</strong><br />

The mild steel vessel, often in combination<br />

with other materials, has been the foundation<br />

of my practice since my undergraduate<br />

studies in gold and silversmithing. More<br />

recently I have developed a deeper material<br />

focus looking to material properties, qualities,<br />

and transformation in the life cycle of<br />

steel. This begins with iron ore, the primary<br />

material essential to iron and steelmaking.<br />

Experimenting with different methods of using<br />

iron ore, the most effective to date has been<br />

grinding the material by hand and blending<br />

it with vitreous enamel, then applying to the<br />

surface of these vessels before firing in a kiln.<br />

In this body of work the vessel forms<br />

respond to my fieldtrips to the Whyalla and<br />

Port Kembla steelworks. The steelworks are<br />

effectively an extensive system of vessels<br />

and structures, mostly made of steel, that<br />

transport, store, and process material in the<br />

production of iron and steel. Kilometres of rail<br />

networks, carriages, monumental industrial<br />

vessels, conveyors, furnaces, cavernous,<br />

corrugated steel sheds and forming systems,<br />

empty, fill, move, transform, and contain vast<br />

quantities of material in a continuous process<br />

of steelmaking. The title given to this work<br />

reflects on this experience as well as notions<br />

of containment embodied in the vessel more<br />

broadly.


Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Oliver Smith | Naturally Wild | <strong>2022</strong><br />

I propose to create a metallic sculpture referencing<br />

antlers from which hang a series of<br />

metal utensils. This work will be an exploration<br />

of the hot-forging process. This hammer<br />

forming technique will be used to produce<br />

sculptural and functional objects that support<br />

the activities of cooking, serving and eating.<br />

The title and source of inspiration is Cernunnos<br />

- The Lord of Wild Things.<br />

The major elements in this work will consist of<br />

two sculptural forms, hot-forged in metal, that<br />

reference the horns of Cernunnos, the archaic<br />

divinity that watches over the wilderness. The<br />

antlers will branch upwards and outwards,<br />

visually suggestive of growth and movement.<br />

They will be three-dimensional flow charts,<br />

manifestations of energy transfer in the<br />

broader river of life or the movement of blood<br />

in an individual circulatory system.<br />

hot-forging process will imbue the objects<br />

with a gestural quality that will heighten the<br />

dynamism of the collection of forms. These<br />

purposeful utensils are in turn further enlivened<br />

through use, the daily rituals of food<br />

preparation and social eating becoming a<br />

homage to the source of the foodstuff itself.<br />

This proposal builds upon my established<br />

body of work exploring the realm of cutlery<br />

and the technique of hot-forging. This foundation<br />

will be extended through the larger<br />

scale antler inspired elements, resulting in<br />

purely sculptural outcomes. The work is intended<br />

to be a living altar to that which we<br />

owe benefaction, the turning of the seasons<br />

and nature’s many gifts. The antlers and utensils<br />

will be a salute to the craft of silversmithing<br />

and a celebration of the rich bounty of all<br />

that nourishes us.<br />

The metallic interpretation of the antlers will<br />

support a series of minor elements consisting<br />

of a series of knives, forks, spoons, serving<br />

spoons, ladles, scoops and tongs. The collection<br />

of hot-forged utensils will be designed<br />

for the preparation, cooking, serving and<br />

consumption of food. Each item will hook and<br />

hang from the pronged ends of the major<br />

forms, akin to a taxonomy of flora or fauna<br />

whose interconnectedness is made evident<br />

when viewed as a group. When at rest each<br />

utensil is an oblation, an offering made to a<br />

deity dedicated to the natural world.<br />

Advancing the aesthetic sensibility activated<br />

in the antlers, the design and material language<br />

of each utensil will reflect the requirements<br />

of function brought to life through the<br />

malleable and ductile properties of metal. The<br />

Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Sean Booth | Tranquillity|<br />

My intention is to bring together traditional<br />

and modern methods of working with metal,<br />

to produce a holloware object that combines<br />

my experience and training in hand forming<br />

techniques with digital technology and<br />

modern machining processes.<br />

Drawing inspiration from <strong>Robert</strong>‘s deep and<br />

unique understanding of metal forming and<br />

manipulation, my work employs traditional<br />

silversmithing techniques to generate<br />

a dynamic asymmetrical hand formed<br />

aluminium vessel. The hand formed vessel is<br />

the first phase of the process. I then digitise<br />

the form to allow me to engage with the work<br />

in the digital workspace. Utilising computer<br />

aided design software, I then design and<br />

program the processes that will transform<br />

the handmade surface. I use these powerful<br />

modern tools to program the intricate tool<br />

paths, manifesting this digital language onto<br />

the work’s surface and form.<br />

As a maker I feel that I have a foot in two<br />

camps, one the traditional handmade<br />

organic physical world and the other modern<br />

computer derived and control production that<br />

is accurate and defined. With this approach<br />

I blend traditional hand forming techniques<br />

and modern machining together to generate<br />

a unique and innovative work that progresses<br />

contemporary craft while acknowledging its<br />

heritage. This work embodies my 20 years of<br />

learning and commitment to development of<br />

skills across a variety of disciplines. Bringing<br />

together my hand forming, digital design and<br />

machining knowledge in one work.


Photo: Tim Bean Photography


Alison Jackson, Two Vessels Converse,<br />

<strong>2022</strong><br />

hand raised copper, patination<br />

110 x 110 mm (larger), 75 x 70 mm (smaller)<br />

$5,000<br />

Bic Tieu, Flowers Between, <strong>2022</strong><br />

Sterling silver and shakudo<br />

215 x 155 x 51 mm<br />

$5,000<br />

Gretel Ferguson, Out of Frame 1, <strong>2022</strong><br />

silver plated copper, frame<br />

260 x 330 x 80 mm<br />

$4,990<br />

Johannes Kuhnen, Vessel <strong>2022</strong>, <strong>2022</strong><br />

titanium, anodised aluminium, monel, stainless<br />

steel<br />

477 x 402 x 217 mm<br />

$40,000<br />

Oliver Smith, Naturally Wild, <strong>2022</strong><br />

316 stainless steel, monel, .900 silver, brass<br />

wall mount<br />

Knives $360 each, Forks $360 each, Spoons<br />

$400 each, Serving Blades $420 each, Slotted<br />

Serving Utensils $420 each, Serving<br />

Spoon & Ladle $900, Stand & Wall Mount<br />

$800


Jonathon Zalakos, Hydroformed Sake Set,<br />

<strong>2022</strong><br />

Powder coated copper<br />

200 x 80 x 80 mm (bottle), 70 x 70 x 70 mm<br />

(cups)<br />

$700<br />

Kirsten Haydon, Ice Draw, <strong>2022</strong><br />

Vitreous enamel, photo transfer, reflector<br />

beads, etched and heat blackened steel, inkstained<br />

Tasmanian oak, sterling silver<br />

430 x 630 x 250 mm<br />

$7,000<br />

Larah Nott, Pleat One, <strong>2022</strong><br />

mild steel, titanium, sterling silver, wax<br />

145 x 300 x 250 mm<br />

NFS<br />

Lindy McSwan, To Cart Carry Convey #1-5,<br />

2019<br />

mild steel, vitreous enamel, iron ore<br />

140 x 120 x 40 mm (#1), 210 x 70 x 60 mm<br />

(#2), 230 x 160 x 65 mm (#3), 130 x 68 x 60<br />

mm (#4), 85 x 80 x80 mm (#5)<br />

$1430 (#1), $1580 (#2), $1800 (#3), $1430<br />

(#4), $1210 (#5)<br />

Sean Booth, Alisterus, <strong>2022</strong><br />

Anodised aluminium, hand formed and CNC<br />

machined vessel<br />

90 x 80 x 195 mm<br />

$5940

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