Five Minutes with... Jess Dare
Jess Dare, Inheritance, 2020. Photo: Grant Hancock.
Combining glass and metal in the practice of contemporary jewellery, Jess Dare uses the traditional method of flameworking to create intricate botanical forms exploring the themes of memory and loss. We spend five minutes getting to know Jess and the creative process behind her works.
Tell us a bit about your background as a contemporary jeweller. What drew you to pursuing jewellery, and what keeps you interested in this medium as a form of expression?
I have always made things, some of my earliest memories are of stringing daisy chains in my back yard but I never thought a career as an artist would be possible. I came to study jewellery in a rather roundabout way after becoming disillusioned with my marketing degree. I love what I do now; it’s part of who I am and how I am in the world. I am a sentimental maker there is no denying it, and my work is becoming like a journal of sorts keeping and holding my stories.
I am drawn to the power of jewellery to carry, hold and transport memory and to take on new meaning and memories, a vessel for communicating, small, portable, worn on the body, close, intimate, personal. Its ability to transport you to a time or place or connect you to someone, so loaded with meaning.
Contemporary jewellery as a field is limitless really, the use of different materials, techniques, manipulation of scale from something worn on the body to large public artworks.
Your jewellery practice focuses on the use of metal and glass to recreate botanical specimens. What challenges do you face when creating such intricate details with these materials?
I feel very fortunate to know and understand two quite different materials, glass and metal and to be able to choose which material most suits the concept I am working on. The glass is quiet, instant, repetitive and cathartic. The metal is hard, loud, dirty and laborious. They require different types of concentration and pose different challenges but both are equally as rewarding.
Aesthetically my glass work is intricate, delicate and organic, whereas my metal work is simplified, essential, symbolic. A mentor of mine once said, “The art is knowing what to leave off”. I often think about those words, less is more, leave room for the viewer to bring their own interpretation, don’t over explain both literally and visually, I think hints can be more powerful that the glaringly obvious.
My biggest hurdle is time, I work best when I have solid consistent time working on each material, it’s inefficient to flip between the two as there is always this period of transition. Especially with the glass, remembering how the glass melts in different parts of the flame, how close I can get my fingers to the flame, the melting point of different colours etc.
Frangipani Lei worn by Jess, 2021. Photo: Grant Hancock.
Jess Dare, Making Time, 2022. Photo: Grant Hancock.
Jess Dare, Baby Blue Gum Neckpiece, 2022. Photo: Grant Hancock.
“I love what I do, its part of who I am and how I am in the world. I am a sentimental maker there is no denying it, and my work is becoming like a journal of sorts keeping and holding my stories.”
Jess Dare working in her studio, 2019. Photo: Jessica Clark.
How do you like to wind down or spend your time when you’re not in the studio?
For me the garden and the act of gardening is a place I always return to, a place of comfort and familiarity, an anchor in the chaos. A place of contemplation, calm and tenderness, a place to locate myself. During this pandemic my garden has taken on an even greater sense of sanctuary. I love doing the simplest tasks like weeding, the satisfaction of pulling a weed out roots and all. Watering my garden at the end of the day often with my kids running around with their watering cans is immensely satisfying. Teaching my children how to grow food and care for the garden is a very special thing.
As a mother of two young children, how has your practice changed compared to when you first started out?
Becoming a parent has added a new richness to my life and in turn my practice. My practice has always been about processing, understanding and working through the events in my life so it seems perfectly natural that in the last few years my children and their influence in my life are soaking in to my practice.
In a practical sense I have to be very efficient with the time I have in the studio. I use my studio at home for more of my production style work, the repetitive work which is easy to pick up and put down, especially after the kids go to sleep at night. I do all of my exhibition and new work development at Gray Street where I can have a clear mind, uninterrupted by my small humans.
“My work is influenced by nature, botanical specimens, memory and family. I often use nature as a metaphor to investigate concepts of the fragility and transience of memory. To me flowers are a constant reminder that life is ephemeral, ever changing, momentary and precious.”
Gray Street Workshop is a collectively run studio for contemporary jewellers. Could you talk us through your involvement with the studio and how it supports local jewellers?
When I was a student at TAFE, I was very fortunate to have Julie Blyfield as a lecturer, at the time Julie was also a partner at Gray Street workshop. Julie was instrumental in encouraging me to join the workshop and in January 2007 only weeks after graduating I joined the workshop as a tenant and three years later in 2010, I became a partner with Catherine Truman, Sue Lorraine and now also Lisa Furno.
Gray Street Workshop is one of Australia’s longest running ARI’s (Est. 1985) and I feel privileged to be a part of it. Over the years more than 100 jewellers have work with us and benefitted from the supportive environment, formal and informal mentoring and professional assistance. The workshop has had a profound effect on me and my work, being surrounded by strong, intelligent, passionate makers, supporting and motivating each other through the challenges and successes that come with a career in the arts.
The workshop has changed and evolved over the years, the premises, the partnership, the facilities and the focus, but the one thing that has always remained constant is our shared commitment to pushing the boundaries, working across multiple mediums and disciplines making work that says something, that means something, that challenges, that adorns and that questions. Our shared and collective passion for making with integrity, for supporting each other, mentoring and friendship make the workshop quite special, a role model and inspiration for emerging artists and jewellers and an integral part of the South Australian arts community.
You have recently joined on as a tutor in the JamFactory Jewellery and Metal Studio; what are you hoping to bring to the short course program?
Having worked with so many jewellers through Gray Street, I have been exposed to a variety of ways of working, different materials and processes and ways of running a business. I have practical industry knowledge, technical skills, experience and passion which I hope I can share. With so many courses being cut and diluted at tertiary level I think it is so important to share our knowledge in any way we can.
Over the years I have been very fortunate to have been taught or mentored by a number of practicing jewellers and they have all had an impact on my practice, it’s time for me to give a little back. Hopefully I can share my passion for the industry and the vibrant jewellery community here in SA.
Jess Dare, Journal Flowers, 2019. Photo: Grant Hancock.
Jess Dare
Contemporary jeweller Jess Dare completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts specialising in Jewellery at the Adelaide Centre for the Arts TAFESA in 2006. Practicing Flameworking for over 15 years having been taught by local and international glass artists, glass now forms an integral part of her practice.
Dare exhibits nationally and internationally and is represented in major national collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the National Glass Collection.
Jess Dare is a finalist in the 2022 Fuse Glass Prize.