Found Object Project
Melbourne polytechnic
June 2026
That’s Jazz, Baby
glass crystals, reclaimed ivory, reclaimed ebony, faux ivory, wood, felt, copper, epoxy resin
After seeing contemporary jewellery by Moniek Schrijer incorporating large glass crystals, an exploration of faceted crystals as a form became a focus in my repetition piece. Crystals could be repetitive in colour and size and were also made with a rhythmic cutting process, each crystal raised and lowered on a blade and counted to create the facets. In the finished faceted crystal, light bounces and repeats a play of light on the wedge-shaped faces. Large glass costume crystals were also interesting to me in their reference to high and low culture, their imitation of forms that appeared in fine jewellery, but on a much larger kitsch and chintzy scale. I incorporated glass crystals with reclaimed piano keys, an instrument inherently repetitive from key to internal string to mallet. The piano represented a machine of repetitious parts and structure, though used culturally for free creative musical expression, in movements like jazz. This tension was apparent to me when the piano was broken down into its smaller elements. The final necklace references a particular aesthetic, of jazz singers, grand pianos and flashy crystal chandeliers, a breaking down of high and low culture that sometimes happens in creative process.
Attachment Piece
mild steel coat hanger wire, fig leaf, cotton thread
For a few months, I had a dry and withering fig leaf pinned to my bedroom wall. I was interested in its elements; its dry and brittle texture, its colour and patina and the smell it continued to release. The fig leaf represented growth and verdancy but was now weathered and aged from its time inside. I bought this leaf into Tafe as a found object, along with an old coat hanger. The textures of these materials complimented each other, the cool grey, galvanised mild steel with the scratchy leaf. The coat hanger was difficult , super strong, tough on the hands, while the leaf flaked apart easily to the touch. Fixing the two together they wanted to break apart, but a sewn thread could hold them with just enough delicacy and strength, red to highlight their fragile attachment.