Marmalade Issue 5, 2017

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.
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