Decouverte : Leslie MATTHEWS – jewelry for ‘emotional & physical sensations’

Jeweller Leslie Matthews latest pieces display a distinctive use of silver that is polarised between glowing white or oxidised black through varying treatments to the metal.
Leslie Matthews is Studio Head of Jewellery and Metal at the South Australian School of Art. Leslie has been a practicing contemporary jeweller and object maker for over 20 years and has exhibited consistently, locally, nationally and internationally. The themes connected to her work include cultural dislocation and familial history, as well as an interconnecting overlay of personal narrative/story telling through memory.

Leslie Matthews is a partner of the Gray Street Workshop. She creates work that relates to the body as a vessel for ‘emotional and physical sensations’. She has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas with recent exhibitions across the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Japan. In 2004 Matthews was awarded the Florence Joyner Bequest from the University of South Australia and has previously been given an Award of Merit by the Royal Institute of Architects SA.

Leslie Matthews « Than oars divide the ocean, too silver for a seam  » – 2009 neckpieces

Leslie Matthews, Shadows hold their breath, 2006-08. Photo: Grant Hancock

Leslie Matthews, Shadows hold their breath, 2006 – sterling silver

Leslie Matthews, My Splendors, are Menagerie, 2006 -sterling silver blackened, silk cord - Photo: Grant Hancock

Leslie Matthews, Clasped, 2008 – sterling silver, sterling silver blackened, silk cord - Photo: Grant Hancock

Leslie Matthews  Gathering Shadows , 2008 – brooches & neckpieces - sterling silver, sterling silver blackened,shell, bone