POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'Found out - floral brooches' brooch by Roseanne Bartley

Object No. 2014/2/2

This simple yet bold floral brooch was created by Roseanne Bartley (b. 1964), a contemporary jeweller based in Melbourne from 1989. Made from drink can ring-pull tabs, the brooch reflect Bartley's interest in using everyday 'found' objects, which were designed with planned obsolescence, as products with a limited useful life. Her approach has resulted in recycling the society's rubbish into intriguing contemporary jewellery. This distinctive brooch is an excellent example of Bartley's earlier work and her 'upcycling' philosophy. Born in New Zealand, Bartley acknowledges Maori culture as her early influence: the Maori's sense of place, close relationship to the land and the notion of fossicking for materials such as stones and shells. She became interested in what gets left behind after use in modern urban environments, collecting and using in her contemporary 'tribal' jewellery items such as the tops of old taps, used brushes, 'Heaven' ice cream sticks and lost tennis and golf balls. Bartley delights in making unique jewellery with a social and environmental message. Her more recent work involves public participation: she collects fragments of plastics and other materials with groups of local enthusiasts. During these urban explorations and jewellery making sessions, Bartley shows her students how to 'celebrate the most mundane objects as forms of adornment' *. She says: 'I like the idea that jewellery can be a way to make change in the world, one step at a time. ** Julieanne Watson, Intern and Eva Czernis-Ryl, Curator 2013 References *Murray, Kevin, Craft unbound, Make the common precious, Chapter 2, Fossickers, Thames and Hudson, 2005, pp. 37-41. **Bartley, Roseanne, roseannebartley.wordpress.com, viewed 21 October 2013.