Craft ACT has announced acclaimed Canberra contemporary jeweller, Phoebe Porter, will be the 2019 DESIGN Canberra designer-in-residence.
Porter was commissioned to create the 2019 signature artwork which will feature in a Craft ACT exhibition and throughout the festival’s visual communications.
Her work, titled Elements of Balance, has been created in response to the 2019 festival theme of utopia.
Referencing the form of the crane (familiar in Canberra skylines today), the work features two contrasting elements, gold and aluminium, of equal weight that balance each other perfectly.
“To me, utopia is a vision of the ideal way to live in an ideal environment,” Porter says.
“But there is a central tension embodied in that concept: striving to achieve a state of utopia requires the careful balance of competing values to attain a harmonious society and life.”
Craft ACT CEO/Artistic Director Rachael Coghlan says they are delighted to welcome Porter in to the ambassadorial role.
“Her stunning new work is contemporary, thought-provoking, beautiful, intelligent, world-class and grounded in authentic, quality local design.
“Phoebe is a celebrated and respected member of Canberra’s contemporary craft and design community and her signature artwork expresses everything we hope to achieve for this year’s DESIGN Canberra festival,” she says.
Porter was selected as the 2019 designer-in-residence for the quality of her work, the rigour of her practice and the symmetry of her work to the 2019 festival theme.
Having graduated from the Gold and Silversmithing workshop at the ANU School of Art and Design in 2001, Porter was tutored by German-born Silversmith, Johannes Kuhnen, and mentored by Australian jeweller, Blanche Tilden.
Porter’s work has recently been exhibited in the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC, is featured in several Australian public collections, including National Gallery of Australia and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
An Accredited Professional Member of Craft ACT, Porter has exhibited nationally and globally and is rapidly making her mark in the Australian design industry.
Visit designcanberrafestival.com.au for more.
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