Virginia Sprague has created a variety of charms and suspended them on a blackened, sterling silver curb chain. A highly textured pendant comprising eight raised elements in a pyramid-style arrangement hangs from a fixed bale, which in turn hangs from a ring of 9ct yellow gold. Alongside the pendant, three more rings slide freely along the curb chain - one 9ct yellow gold, and two in blackened sterling silver. The textured pendant, and over all blackened appearance of this piece is in the style of Sprague's Unearthed Series.
Materials: 9ct yellow gold, sterling silver.
Dimension of pendant: 8mm x 9mm x 3mm
Virginia Sprague is a self-taught, emerging Australian designer and maker of contemporary art jewellery. Her work explores our complex interrelationship with nature and the importance of embedding respect, connection, and nurture at its core. Her pieces seek to achieve this by focussing on the quiet and restorative details of nature's most intricate forms, acting to transform these moments into tangible, wearable objects. These objects speak to the interdependency of ecosystems, embracing the symbiotic relationship between wearer and the natural world.
Virginia travels widely – always with a focus on exploring natural environments that are new and unfamiliar. In these places – suffused with different forms, textures, colours, light – she interrogates her own connection to the natural world and finds the moments of creative reflection that shape and guide her work. Virginia uses a range of techniques (including ferric nitrate etching, surface enrichment, keum boo, oxidisation, and gold plating) to explore these ideas, and to position the notion of beauty within natural cycles of life and decay. Lightly corroded, almost white surfaces slip into browns and golds and blacks, creating striking contrasts and unpredictable (dis)colorations.
With a background in Law and International Aid and Development, Virginia’s deep love of creative practice, and jewellery making in particular, led to a career change in 2013. Having since undertaken study and mentoring opportunities in both Australia and the United States, Virginia has exhibited internationally (NYC JEWELRY WEEK 2022; Brooklyn Metalworks 2019; SNAG JEWELRY AND METALS SURVEY 2019) and in Australia (Australian Design Centre 2019 & 2022; Sturt Gallery & Studios 2019 & 2023; Toowoomba Regional Gallery 2023).
