Yuko initially began a degree in Japanese literature in Tokyo before coming to Australia to study jewellery. She first studied at NMIT and later completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Gold and Silversmithing) at RMIT University. In 2010, Yuko exhibited KODAMA – Return to Me at e.g.etal, a solo exhibition that borrowed from her literary beginnings, using visual language and materials—found wood and objects as well as gold and silver—to tell a story. Yuko’s work has also been exhibited in Europe and New Zealand.
Yuko’s pieces are realised through a spontaneous reaction to her materials, which creates outcomes that are never the same, reclaiming found objects as wearable sculptures. She is interested in making contemporary jewellery that interacts with the wearer. Yuko gives free reign to the interplay between the fundamental qualities of material, texture, shape and colour. Each piece is a tribute to her very personal and charming way of observing the world. Yuko believes that her pieces are completed when a viewer or wearer communicates with them through their imagination, engaging both physically and emotionally.
Garden pendant
Wisteria earrings
Wooden earrings
Wooden earrings
Willow pendant
Garden earrings
Garden earrings
Garden earrings
Garden earrings
Garden pendant
Botanical earrings
Botanical earrings
Willow earrings
Wisteria earrings
We recently commissioned seven artists to make a piece of jewellery. Their brief was simple: take an item once belonging to an e.g.etal staff member and recycle, recreate, re-imagine it. These items came with their own story, were given a new one by each artist and now they wait for their new owners. We’ll be handing these pieces onto new owners via our Facebook page.
Exhibition dates: 14th July - 31st July, 2010
Opening night: Thursday 15 July, 6pm - 8pm at e.g.etal, 167 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Melbourne jeweller, Yuko Fujita, has transformed recycled objects of distinctly domestic and ordinary origins into bold pieces of jewellery. Discarded and all but forgotten, the wooden objects used by Fujita were retrieved from thrift shops and friends’ cupboards…
“My process for the work in ‘KODAMA (return to me)’ was like communicating with these existing materials. I see the objects and they respond to me through their shape, color and texture to bring form to each item. I transform them into imaginary plants, creatures, and habitats which they may have belonged to somewhere in the past…”
