Barbara Ryman: Artist Statement & Bio

Since childhood, Barbara Ryman has been a fascinated observer of nature, nourished by the stories of naturalists Gerald Durrell and Jean-Henri Fabre. They taught her the value of taking time and observing with all her senses. Fabre's minute and dedicated studies of insects, taught Ryman that the details of these tiny lives are remarkable and important; they provide an intimate and quiet world of inspiration for her work.

Her primary medium of Vitreous Enamelling is combined with many metalwork and etching techniques. Forty years of study and practice give her a remarkable depth of knowledge, enabling her to combine both traditional, Japanese and contemporary enamelling methods. This interplay of metal, glass and etching have become her intricate, creative language she uses when making her jewellery and vessels

Barbara Ryman has been a leading influence in Australian Contemporary jewellery for more than 30 years, primarily for her exquisite and extraordinary work with vitreous enamel.
In recent years she has spent much time in Japan studying Japanese enameling techniques with master craftsman and mentor, Tsuyura Sakurai. These influences have provided many new directions of exploration that can be seen in Ryman’s work. “As a mature artist, I have sometimes found this challenging, but it has also been inspirational and transformative. I hope I will always take such leaps of faith”. 

Barbara has exhibited frequently both internationally and nationally and her work is held in both public and private collections, including; the Australian National Gallery in Canberra, the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and the Museum of Contemporary Enamelling in Salou, Spain. 

Barbara Ryman: CV March, 2023 Download

Alice Whish: Artist Statement & Bio

A maker of contemporary jewellery across precious and non-precious materials.

Alice Whish is one of a distinctive group of Australian jewellers who have come from a rural background in New South Wales. Her work continues to have a strong connection not only to the wide brown land, but also to the sky above. Over 10 years she has worked with women in north-east Arnhem Land on collaborative jewellery projects. She holds a Bachelor of Visual Art from Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University, a Master of Art, Fine Art in Gold and Silversmithing from RMIT and a Master of Higher Education from the University of New South Wales.

Eden Lennox: Artist Statement & Bio

Eden Lennox’s passion for art became a calling at the age of 18, when she completed a Diploma of Fine Art.

Since then Eden has contributed works to more than 25 solo or joint exhibitions in Perth and Sydney.

In 2010, she gained a Masters’ degree in Visual Art (Jewellery Production), from Curtin University.

Eden has also channelled her passion for art towards work as a curator and gallery manager, and has taught art to venues from male prisons to special art workshops at high schools.

Her work is informed, in part, by family history: such as her late, larger-than-life father, Tony, who survived the Holocaust and arrived in Australia as a teenage refugee – to become a success in everything from welding submarines on Cockatoo Island and riding circus elephants, to building and managing hotels.

Christel van der Laan: Artist Statement & Bio

A collector of all manner of things, Christel searches for carefully considered relationships between sometimes disparate elements in her jewellery, with the intrinsic qualities of the materials as her starting point. There are two facets to her practice:  The precise carving of ceramic honeycomb components, a refractory material intended for the jeweller's soldering bench, and the use of found materials.  Placed together, the mundane, the discarded, the overlooked and occasionally the precious, create new poetic possibilites, inviting the viewer and wearer to see jewellery in a different way.

 

Christel’s work has been exhibited in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Norway, Japan, and Poland and is held in private and public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney and the Alice and Louis Koch Collection in Switzerland. She has staged two solo exhibitions, Price-Less (Katherine Kalaf Gallery Perth, 2006) and Parts of the Story (Stanley Street Gallery, Sydney, 2014) 

Born in the Netherlands, Christel has lived and worked in Perth, Western Australia since 1981.

Christel van der Laan: CV April, 2023 Download