Metalsmith Xanthe Gay has been making jewellery and small objects for over 30 years. Whilst initially self taught, she later went on to study Jewellery and Object Design at Sydney College of the Arts as well as Gold and Silver Smithing at Canberra School of Art, ANU. Today she works from her Bungendore NSW workshop and gallery, ‘X Gallery’
Whilst having experience working with various metals, materials and scale over the years, she has found her passion lies with the creation of wearable pieces using the pure qualities of silver. Xanthe favours traditional methods to design and fabricate her classic yet contemporary, minimalist jewellery.
She mainly uses basic hand tools to create simple patterns and textures to produce unique surfaces that engage an interplay of light, reflection and negative space to form her one-off pieces.
'Botanica Eclectica' is a range of sterling silver jewellery and photographs of details of botanical specimens that have inspired her work. The intricately detailed jewellery has been made from casts of plants and seeds that she has grown, propagated or collected around the local area.
Xanthe say, “Since starting this body of work I've become completely immersed in the cycles of plants and capturing in time the various stages of fertility and reproduction. I have found myself chasing trees in an attempt to collect things at just the right time resulting in what has become truely 'seasonal' jewellery.
Image credit: Aboutregional.com.au
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