A pair of oval drop earrings, cut from a sheet of sterling silver, and embellished with a sparse, asymmetrical pattern of 9ct yellow gold granules. Each earring has an undulating bite cut out of one edge. The earrings are oxidised black and are gently concave. They hang from hand-made hooks.
Elegantly simple, the Rangelands earrings are informed by the formative year's Kate spent on her family's farm in western NSW. The gold granules on a black field echo the vast, starry skies of the rangelands which cover more than 80% of Australia's landmass.
Materials: Sterling silver, 9ct yellow gold
Dimensions: 4cm drop from piercing. Approximately 2.5cm wide
Kate Gardiner’s 'Rangelands Revealed' project combines the artist’s contemporary jewellery practice, knowledge of Australia’s rangelands and respect for the people who live there, as well as her creative writing.
The rangelands land type include savannas, woodlands, shrublands, grasslands and wetlands. Across these regions people are working to repair the environment through consultation with First Nations People, and innovative, critically informed practices.
Kate’s range of sterling silver, silk and gold jewellery draws upon the formative aesthetic influence this environment had on her during time spent in western NSW. Every piece is infused with elements unique to the rangelands, from curved sandstone ridges to the bark of the ngarrkaray (Pilaarrkiyalu language)/Leopardwood tree, to the bright spots of gold in the wide starry sky. The coloured silk borders suggest the red soil, the vast blue skies, the pink feathers of galahs, or the golden tan of the stockworkers’ kelpie collaborators.
Kate Gardiner is an Australian maker, currently based in Canada.
