Cinderella Stories: Contemporary Jewellery from Western Australia

The exhibition showcases the vibrant work of seven Western Australian artist jewellers who exhibit internationally. Together their work makes a strong statement about what it is to be a Western Australian artist practicing as a jeweller in one of the most remote capital cities in the world. The exhibition has been arranged to coincide with the international launch of the book Gold and Silversmithing in Western Australia: A History by Dorothy Erickson in which all are featured.



The title of the exhibition comes from a colloquial name for Western Australia, which has been known since the discovery of gold in the 1880s as the Cinderella of the South. The colony had been founded in 1829 and had not prospered until gold in fabulous quantities were found in the dry dusty interior. Adversity bred self-reliance which is still a characteristic in an area where there is little manufacturing and little technical support such as is found in larger industrial communities. This has engendered a sense of camaraderie among the group most of whom have been associated with Curtin University in its earlier incarnation as the Western Australian Institute of Technology and with the Western Australian chapter of the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group Australia originally set up by Dorothy Erickson in 1979 as the Western Australian Jewellers Group. 

Each of these jewellers has had to be adaptable and self reliant to succeed as they have in the international arena. All work at the cutting edge of their discipline and have been selected in many prestigious international exhibitions and featured in numerous international publications.