A Pearler’s Life For Me by Laura Eyles
Exhibition 18 Sept – 7 Oct, 2017
Launch drinks Friday 22 Sept, 5-7pm rsvp@egetal.com.au
Laura Eyles embraces adventure as a central part of her life and her making practice, her most recent experience involving relocating to the remote Dampier Peninsula 250 kilometers north of Broome to work at Australia’s oldest operating South Sea Pearl Farm. This four month self-guided residency allowed her to gain an in depth understanding and appreciation of the cultured pearling process and experience the incredible remote landscape of the Kimberley and world famous waterways of the King Sound.
‘A Pearler’s Life For Me’, Laura’s first solo exhibition, contains works that have been made on reflection of the cultured pearling knowledge she gained living on site alongside pearling crew and culturing technicians, along with the inspiration found from living remotely.
The process of oyster ‘seeding’ and the anatomy of the pearl is explored in a beautifully strung necklace of mother of pearl nuclei. The history of Broome’s booming mother of pearl trade before the birth of pearl culturing can be seen in a number of mother of pearl button brooches. Fishing, the favourite pastime of the north, is referenced in a series of expertly hand fabricated fishing swivels in silver and gold. However most importantly this body of work features spectacular South Sea Pearls, the most sought-after pearls in the world, which were all grown and harvested on site and hand selected by the artist for this work.
A Pearler’s Life for Me will exhibit at e.g.etal from Monday 18 September to Saturday 7 October, 2017.
