Marian Hosking
Silversmith
Rye, Australia
Recommended by WCC Australia
An imprint of nature in silver
- Marian champions local flora without hierarchy
- She uses silver as a means to shift light and celebrate other natural materials
- She was recognised as an Australian Living Treasure in 2007
Marian Hosking celebrates the subtleties of Australian nature, with a focus on the minutiae of flora. She developed her skills at RMIT School of Art and the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Pforzheim, and completed her PhD at Monash University in 2009. Through silver Marian represents the shimmering nature of light on plants and highlights their preciousness. “I can spend up to two weeks drilling thousands of tiny holes for one artwork,” she says. For her Living Treasures national touring exhibition in 2007, Marian crafted a silver ring big enough to fit the circumference of one of the few remaining giant trees in Australia, honouring its life. Today, she incorporates indigenous wood species into her sculptural and jewellery pieces, creating a mutually celebrating dialogue between silver and wood. In 2022, Marian was awarded a MADA Distinguished Alumni Award.
INTERVIEW
At the time when I started, gold was associated with the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Meanwhile, there were beautiful works in silver coming from Scandinavia. I did not want the price of the metal to dictate the form. And I loved the way silver can shift light.
I share the values of the conservation movement. In the 1980s, I made small badges to promote endangered species. They then evolved into brooches. I am particularly drawn to coastal heathland, sandstone and desert regions. I observe, select and translate into silver to highlight the diversity of the Australian bush.
I have travelled to India a number of times. I find the students there particularly enthusiastic and knowledgeable. I was particularly struck by the beauty of Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi. I was inspired to use a pattern from the brickwork in the first vessels I made to put candles in.
Follow your passion, be true to yourself and work consistently. I almost stopped making when the world was experiencing Covid, but life goes on.
Marian Hosking
Silversmith
Rye, Australia
Recommended by WCC Australia
ADDRESS
Address upon request, Rye, Australia
AVAILABILITY
By appointment only
LANGUAGES
English
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