Open Studio #4... Danielle Barrie

Jeweller Danielle Barrie says she almost took an academic path, however a serendipitous move to Australia with her family changed everything. One look at her colour-filled studio and it becomes clear that she was always destined to a life of creativity. When Dani isn’t in her studio, you can usually find her upstairs in JamFactory’s Metal Studio where she works as the Production Manager. Lucky us!

Photos by Vanessa Heath.

Can you tell us a little about your background?

I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to Adelaide when I was in high school. I graduated from Adelaide University with a Bachelor of Visual Arts and completed the two year Associate Program at JamFactory straight afterwards.

I started crafting at a young age; always beading or making little sculptures and artworks, but being a professional maker or an artist wasn't something I ever thought of as a realistic possibility. In Johannesburg craft was generally something that I saw being done as a means to an end. Disadvantaged people would teach themselves or learn from friends and family how to make beaded animals, bracelets and earrings from plumbing pipes, electrical cord parts and any other cheap or discarded material, as this was a feasible way to make a meagre living using inexpensive resources. Moving to Australia completely changed my whole outlook of what being an artist meant. Not only could it be vigorously academic but it was also culturally valued, so much so that there were government grants and programs to help artists be sustainable.

“I was lucky enough to have an amazing education and was a reasonably high achiever throughout school and uni, so for a while it felt a bit selfish, or maybe even deliberately spiteful, for me to not pursue a more academic profession as my siblings and parents had.”

Nonetheless my passion for creativity drove me to pursue this career. Moving countries was certainly emotional and difficult, and I often wonder whether I would have become a jeweller had I stayed in South Africa.

Tell us about your studio...

Well my side is a bit cluttered! But overall I think both Zoe and I like a calm and welcoming space and I think we've created just that within our own and shared areas. I have very recently come around to the idea of gardening and owning (and raising!) plants. I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of person, so I may have gone a bit overboard, but I've loved adding some natural elements to my space and seeing how that's changed the vibe.

Colour and geometric shapes adorn the walls.

Danielle’s handmade shelves and jewellery stands show off pieces from her Tidal collection. — Danielle’s handmade shelves and jewellery stands show off pieces from her *Tidal* collection.

Pieces from the Tidal collection. — Pieces from the *Tidal* collection.

What or who are some of your influences?

I tend to design my works in collections which have a central look or theme. My new Tidal collection is linked to the ocean and the moon-like effect of pearls, while previous collections have had cosmic influences with an exploration of geometric shapes. I've always felt somewhat envious of makers who have a clear or singular source of inspiration, like Georgia O'Keefe with flowers or Chris de Rosa with underwater worlds. My influences and ideas are a bit more randomized. I'll have a new obsession or interest, design around it till I feel that I've exhausted it, and then move on to the next idea. In saying that I currently find myself increasingly inspired by the actions and lives of the women around me, and as I get a bit older I find myself exploring themes to a deeper and more substantial level than I used to. It has started to take me a bit longer to feel that I've designed and explored a concept fully.

How do you stay inspired?

Inspiration has always come fairly quickly to me, for which I'm grateful. My attention span and lack of time are usually the bigger issues. I'll often design and sketch pages and pages of ideas but sometimes by the time I've finished my existing commissions or orders and actually get around to bringing my sketches to life, I'll have moved on to a new theme or concept, and what only a few days ago was an exciting collection of new works now seems flat and old. Again this is probably something to be grateful for as the ones that remain fresh and exciting (even after all of the life stuff is done) are the ones that I'll keep working at and unpacking. It’s a bit like sorting the chafe from the wheat, and hopefully this leaves me with the best final ideas.

“Having a muse has historically been heavily associated with the male gaze… [through this project] I want to repackage that concept and make one off pieces that reflect and focus on the power that [women] have rather than the power they are held under.”

How do you like to spend your time outside of your studio?

When I'm not in my studio I am upstairs in the Metal Studio where I work part time as the Production Manager. When I'm not at Jam, which seems like a bit of a rare occasion,
I spend most of my time with my partner and my family catching up over long lunches or babysitting my nephew and niece.

What do you enjoy most about your medium?

Metal itself is so complex, with each of the different alloys and forms having its own complexities with its particular positive and negative qualities. I think what I like the most about it is that you are somewhat restricted in terms of what you can do with different metals. For examples, while it would be great to always work in gold because it is soft and easy to form, as you can imagine that is not always economically feasible. Therefore you have to consider other metals which are more affordable, but may not heat or bend in the same way – and so you need to make allowance for that in your designs. Jewellery design and making involves a bit of problem solving every step of the way – like a puzzle to be solved, but you get to wear the final product at the end!

What projects are you currently working on?

I've been quite focused on my new Tidal Collection. I'm ironing out the details at this point, such as making sure I have a breadth of forms and am happy with the scale and componentry (with items as small and intimate as jewellery the details are always important!)

I also want to continue on with a project I've been mulling over since last year. I think it will be called ‘The Muses’ and will explore character traits in the women around me – from friends and family to those portrayed in books and on screens. Having a muse has historically been heavily associated with the male gaze and had focused on how the woman made the male artist feel and think. I want to repackage that concept a bit and make one off pieces that reflect how the women feel and what they are expressing, and focus more on the power that they have rather than the power they are held under. I started noticing how so many women around me were some of the strongest and kindest people around, but that they take on so much without much recognition or encouragement for the hard work they are doing. My jewellery tends to be symbolic to me, so I'm hoping to create pieces that represent these individuals’ passionate and vulnerable traits that are so visible to me, in a wearable form.