Marmalade Issue 5, 2017

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Profile COURTNEY JACKSON
Contemporary Adelaidebased jeweller Courtney Jackson creates intricate and complex jewellery that reflects the dramatic collision between natural and architectural forms. The artist completed JamFactory’s Metal Design Studio Associate program in 2014 and continues to develop her craft as a studio tenant. Words by Caitlin Eyre Caitlin is Assistant Curator at JamFactory. Working primarily with fine sterling silver wire, Jackson utilises her practice to transform precious metals into graceful wearable forms that hover tantalisingly between the familiar and the alien. Her collection includes a delightful array of brooches, stickpins, earrings, pendants and rings that each embody a curious fusion of industrial and natural elements that Jackson describes as ‘organic geometry’. The pieces variously bring to mind the neatly folded lines of origami and paper fans, segmented petals and dissected insect wings, point quartz prisms and the wire framework of architectural structures. While many of her compositions seem to reflect the influence of such forms, Jackson is playful in her explorations and reluctant to define the shapes in such rigid and specific terms. Instead, the artist prefers to embrace the ambiguity that each piece embodies and the subjective interpretations that are evoked in the viewer. Science fiction is a prominent source of inspiration and intrigue for Jackson, who draws on the idea of parallel universes and alternate realities in the creation and conceptualisation of her otherworldly alien blooms. ‘They could have just sprouted in an abandoned post-apocalyptic theme park or an alien landscape,’ Jackson suggests. Indeed, it is not difficult to imagine the sharp-edged metallic structures blooming in a ravaged dystopian landscape or a strange and paradoxical rendering of Earth. In her practice, Jackson laboriously layers and repeats a series of simple selfdeveloped techniques to create delicate and complex wire-based jewellery pieces. Instead of crafting specific components for each new piece, Jackson works solidly to create an extensive master stockpile of components that can be assembled in various ways. While there is always a general concept behind the creation of her works, the process of compiling the pieces themselves is largely spontaneous for Jackson. The end result is therefore often something of a surprise, even to the artist herself. The process for creating each individual component involves coiling wires, soldering them together with a micro torch and cutting the pieces with a jewellery-saw before sanding, filing and polishing the finished pieces. Fine details such as Jackson’s signature chevron patterns are usually added during this process, the artist occasionally utilising gold plate to provide contrast to the sterling silver and emphasise the patterned surfaces. When experimenting with different configurations, Jackson arranges the components with Blu-Tack, examining the piece from all angles and tweaking the designs accordingly. The configuration is then soldered together into its finished form. The wintery, frosty finish that Jackson applies to many of her pieces is the result of depletion gilding, a process whereby sterling silver is heated and placed in a pickle solution to bring the fine silver to the surface. Left: Courtney Jackson in the studio. Photographer: Stephen Soeffky. The inspiration for Jackson’s jewellery pieces can largely be traced to her interest in architectural forms, the artist replicating the clean lines, sharp corners and fine details of structural formations, throughout her practice. The three television towers that overlook Jackson’s childhood home near Mount Dandenong in Victoria continue to be a significant source of aesthetic inspiration for Jackson, who is drawn to the skeletal framework of the forms. The artist’s affinity for crafting complex hollow structures from wire can also be attributed to her obsession with abandoned theme parks and other neglected spaces. ‘I could look at pictures of abandoned roller coasters for days,’ laughs Jackson. The decaying skeletons of theme park rides such as ferris wheels and roller coasters provide ample aesthetic inspiration for the artist, who fondly recalls her memories of covert visits to such sites to satisfy her curiosity. For Jackson, the lure of such spaces is the inevitable way in which nature envelopes and overtakes architectural forms, the unchecked forces of nature hungrily reclaiming mankind’s creations. In this way, Jackson’s jewellery pieces are much like the bare bones left behind by decaying plant life and architectural structures, their bodies picked clean and returned to nature to begin a new life. about how their procurement process is not offering enough creative opportunities. ISSUE 05 / 51
Page 1: ISSUE NO 05 CRAFT + DESIGN
Page 5: Marmalade Editorial Team Margaret H
Page 8 and 9: Highlights illumini X Aristologist
Page 10 and 11: Highlights From JamFactory to Lime
Page 12 and 13: Highlights Julie Blyfield Mentorshi
Page 14 and 15: Feature Adelaide Aesthetic Words by
Page 16 and 17: Top: Lex Stobie, Omega Tall Boy. Ph
Page 18 and 19: Tweny years ago, the mass exodus of
Page 20 and 21: 2017 Australian Furniture Design Aw
Page 22 and 23: Feature JAMFACTORY ICON CATHERINE T
Page 24 and 25: Beginnings are especially important
Page 26 and 27: Feature
Page 28 and 29: Previous page: Yolngu Weaver of Elc
Page 30 and 31: concept of locating ‘Indigenous t
Page 32: Feature Studio Pottery Words by Dam
Page 35 and 36: attainable at a level that was prev
Page 37 and 38: In 2017 JamFactory celebrates the 1
Page 39 and 40: Star-gazing nets, stairways to heav
Page 41 and 42: Creative direction of applied arts
Page 43 and 44: e Goulder family were making furnit
Page 45 and 46: Only a few people consider themselv
Page 47 and 48: ‘The job you didn’t know you al
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Page 51: After 35 years of collaboration, Ro
Page 55 and 56: STEEL : ART DESIGN ARCHITECTURE Cai
Page 57 and 58: JAMFACTORY PRODUCT FURNITURE JamFac
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Page 64 and 65: MAJOR PARTNERS GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
Page 66 and 67: JamFactory is a not for profit orga
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Marmalade Issue 5, 2017

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