IT’S the supportive arts community in Canberra that keeps Alison Jackson here, nine years after she moved from Sydney to study gold and silversmithing at the ANU Art School. 

“Lots of people find it odd that I haven’t moved back to Sydney after I finished studying… I think Canberra has a really supportive art and design community and lots of exciting things are happening, particularly over the last couple of years,” she says.

Since graduating in 2008, Alison has exhibited her range of one-off and limited-edition tableware and jewellery pieces nationally and internationally.

Combining traditional silversmithing techniques with a contemporary aesthetic, Alison says her designs are characterised by simplicity, functionality and a playful quirky twist.

With an emphasis on the functional, each tableware piece is hand-raised from a flat sheet through to the finished form.

Alison’s contemporary Australian jewellery collection is crafted from stainless steel and Sterling silver. Each piece is designed to be unique, yet wearable.

“I started out in early high school doing a weekly after-school jewellery class. I don’t think I missed a single class from year 7 to 12 – I absolutely loved it,” she says.

Now the 26-year-old splits her time between part-time work at Fink & Co and working in her Queanbeyan studio. She also teaches short beginner jewellery classes occasionally.

“I think people are genuinely intrigued by what a silversmith actually does,” she says.

“I find metal has a freedom about it that I really enjoy, it still amazes me what you can achieve with a sheet of metal and a hammer.”

Alison works hard to educate people about the process and huge amount of work that goes into creating a single piece.

“Silversmithing is a very labour-intensive process, taking hours and sometimes days to complete one special piece.

“It’s challenging trying to find a market for my hollowware pieces. It is a diminishing industry, so few people are still making hollowware pieces
by hand and many don’t even get to learn the skills,” she says, highlighting that she’s working on some new hollowware pieces that are suitable for small or limited-run production while keeping a hand-crafted element.

Alison is currently doing a mentorship with German silversmith Maike Dahl as part of JUMP, a national mentorship program for young and emerging artists.

Next month she will travel to Hannover, Germany, to work with Maike for a week on a project developing tableware pieces that will be exhibited in Munich in October.