Oh Opal! is an exploration of the opal from the research jewellery group Part B.
The participating Part B members were Justine Austen, Dianne Beevers, Femi Coppi, Susan Frisch, Mary Hackett, Jill Hermans, Gillian Hillman, Inari Kiuru, Claire McArdle, Karyn Nankivell, Christine Scott-Young, Justin Slow, Karen Thompson, Amy Zubick.
It’s a conundrum! What to do with the opal? Why don’t more Australians love it? Melbourne-based research jewellery group Part B takes on the challenge of exploring the history and legend surrounding the opal and bringing a new fire to this strange and alluring gemstone.
Since Roman times, the world has been fascinated by the opal. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were great proponents of this mysterious gemstone, and Art Nouveau master René Lalique used it to great effect in his jewellery designs. It has been perceived as both good luck and bad luck (the latter sometimes attributed to the 1829 novel ‘Anne of Geierstein’ by Sir Walter Scott, among other factors). Moving into the twenty-first century, the creative director of Dior Fine Jewellery, Victoire de Castellane, is often quoted declaring her love of Australian opals. This coincides with the recent wave of interest in the gemstone from other big European jewellery houses. In Australia, however, the opal still languishes, perhaps a result of one too many souvenir teaspoons. But given our bounty of these brilliantly-coloured beauties (Australia’s opal fields are bigger than the rest of the world’s combined), surely there is more to be done to improve the opal’s lot! This is just the kind of challenge that Part B loves…
Christine Scott-YoungOnly trouble is the show is nearly over!
There are images of the work and a blog post. I wish that I was able to attend the opening. I also wish that I could organise myself to write sooner.
Thanks to Bridget, Mel and Zoe for organising the Sydney show and for Annie of Redox Studio for the Geelong show.
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