S T U D I O G E L D

🖤

There is still a small selection of my silver Chip on the Shoulder pins and brooches available through @craftvictoria - available in the gallery or online. ‘Chip on the Shoulder’ playfully critiques societal elitism, embracing the phrase’s derogatory connotations to prompt reflection on power dynamics and privilege. It challenges viewers to reconsider notions of inequality and ownership, inviting contemplation on who truly holds the upper hand in this narrative.

Final days of COIL and ROAR @civic_art_bureau . It's been a pleasure. Please get along to see paintings by @clarethackway and text by @laurencarrollharris , curated by @benjaminshingles 🩷🩷🩷🩷

Choker Fine silver On show @civic_art_bureau or made to order. DM me for details #hysterical #femalehysteria #objectsofpower

Pearl Necklace - On show now @civic_art_bureau

I will be exhibiting a new series of sculptures and wearables as part of Coil and Roar. OPENING RECEPTION TOMORROW 3pm Saturday 1 November Civic Art Bureau is proud to present COIL and ROAR, an exhibition of paintings and sculpture by Clare Thackway and Emily O’Brien that speaks to the cultural legacies of gendered stories of shame, hysteria and transgression. Paris-based Australian artist Clare Thackway, a finalist in this year’s Archibald prize, and jeweller and sculptor Emily O’Brien, of Melbourne’s Studio Geld, are alumni of the Australian National University School of Art. The exhibition text is by Canberra region writer and curator Lauren Carroll Harris. The exhibition’s title COIL and ROAR is drawn from poems carved into Byzantine amulets: “womb black, blackening, as the snake you coil and as a lion you roar”. Derived from the time of Hippocrates and once considered a physical ailment, the concept of hysterical neurosis moved from neurology to psychiatry in the 19th century and was deleted from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as late as 1980. Magical and medical approaches to treating the women’s hysteria may have faded, but the cultural shadow looms. Clare Thackway will present works on canvas plus fifty-two watercolour paintings of Eve the moment before the Fall, derived from her research residency in the collection archives of the Warburg Institute in London. In these works, we see Eve in a repeated schema from iconography, passed through the centuries, reinscribed as a deposition in femininity, the unstable, cursed, wild woman, writhing, witchy, sensual and at the centre of a secret flesh world. Emily O’Brien’s quietly subversive jewellery works are modelled on drawings from Victorian-era women’s sex guidebooks that contain intimate treatments prescribed to relieve an ‘hysterical paroxysm’. In this exhibition, disembodied hands stud bracelets and strands of pearls, the feminine-coded, ecological gem that reoccurs across Biblical and ancient storytelling. @laurencarrollharris @clarethackway @_studio_geld_

Final days of Trove at Craft Victoria! Get in quick to see this exhibition of exceptional forward thinking local jewellers. So stoked to have been included! Keep reading if you'd like to know more about what my 'Chip on the Shoulder' is all about 😉 Trove, 27 Sep – 1 Nov 2025. Chip on the Shoulder is a tongue-in-cheek critique of societal inequality and the subtle mechanisms of exclusion practiced by the elite. Made from solid gold, the brooch adopts the form of an everyday idiom and turns it into a wearable declaration—both humorous and defiant. Traditionally, to have a "chip on the shoulder" suggests carrying a grudge, often dismissed as petty or ungrateful. But this piece reclaims that notion, questioning why those perceived as bitter are often those who’ve had to fight the hardest to be heard. The brooch straddles the line between satire and empowerment. By materialising the metaphor into an object of adornment - one usually associated with wealth, status, and refinement - the work subverts expectations. It places a visible "chip" on the very symbol of privilege, forcing a reconsideration of who belongs in elite spaces and who defines their rules. It doesn’t offer easy answers - instead it demands a more nuanced reading of class, identity, and power. It celebrates the wearer's defiance while also highlighting the absurdity of the structures that marginalise. By transforming an idiom into a satirical ornament, the brooch brings social commentary into a space of adornment where it is often absent. Made from gold, the chip becomes a badge of honour. A glinting irony. A symbol of resistance masquerading as luxury. It dares you to laugh - and then to think. Artists   @roseannebartley @livboylejeweller @designnomaddiaries @christinecollinsjewellery @lazyliberty @lauradeakinjewellery @samdennis.art @tarkarei.art @annadavern @pollydymond kirstenhaydon @ordinari_observer @studio_blau @s.j.lockey @simluttin_artjeweller @lesliematthews @belindanewick @_studio_geld_ @saintgabbee @blanchetilden @_zoeveness @madebymelindayoung    @craftvictoria

Plinth Rings

@_studio_geld_ Plinth Ring - one of three @_altaforma_

Apple Bowl will be on show as part of COIL and ROAR at @civic_art_bureau alongside works by @clarethackway I'm excited to be exhibiting alongside Clare Thackway whos work is incredibly tender. I'm also thrilled to be exhibiting in the city I learned gold and silversmithing. It's been a while! I hope you can make it if you're in the region! Apple Bowl was created during a time of healing and processing my own experience of sexual trauma. It reflects my struggle with societal beliefs that women are to blame for the violence they endure. This deep-rooted narrative echoes the biblical story of Eve and the apple—blaming women while excusing men's actions. It highlights how our culture continues to shame women for their desires, their bodies, and simply for existing