La Geometrie

I, as I conceive is also true of most of my peers, believe myself the architect of my own worldview. My philosophy is constructed on truths discovered by others, but in whom I hold such regard, that I believe their discoveries to be as certain as if I had made them myself.

But at this time, I find my beliefs, which I know to be the truth, inside of myself, to be at odds with those held by many others of a similar deportment to me. It is indeed possible that my views are not held as passionately as those of others, but I think them equal of scrutiny to those held by others, and in that, equal to the gaze of close scrutiny also.

And it is not that I question the holding of such beliefs by others, as potentially unable to bare the close scrutiny to which I believe mine to be capable of. In fact, in first making the assertion - that I build my view on certain truths - to myself, I realised that I had yet to take the trouble, personally, to seek out the true nature of the bedrock below the foundations on which my beliefs have, to this date, been laid. Indeed, how can one possibly call into question the beliefs that police the self-governance of another, when one has not yet been set to the task of proving the first principles on which one’s own philosophies are based?

And so to prove that the ground beneath what, might I be permitted to call, my wisdom, was indeed secure, to no less a person than myself, I was forced to examine my own philosophy for paralogisms. As such, I examined the arcane texts on which was latterly based a whole system of knowledge, the system on which the whole of my own professional career, to that point in time, had been based. Not that I doubted the system at all, but rather, my abilities as far as owning a complete conception of it.

I had hoped that through this examination I might “discover new truths in proportion as I g[a]ve myself to the search.”1 And indeed, in giving myself to the search, (despite the fear that accompanies any such journey,) by poring through said texts, in synthesis with my previous learnings, which themselves were constructed on the foundations of the self-same idea as represented in these texts, I was able to educe my own philosophy based on the ancient sources.

The drawings, as arranged before you, bare witness to my search.

In geometry I trust.

Melissa Cameron, November 2011



1 René Descartes, Discourse on Method, Part VI. 1637.

Melissa Cameron, Australia.

Education:
2009 Master of Fine Arts: Jewellery and Metals, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
2006 Postgraduate Diploma of Jewellery Production, Curtin University, Western Australia 
2001 Bachelor of Arts (Interior Architecture) with honours, Curtin University, Western Australia

Collections:
Cheongju City Collection, Cheongju, Korea | Arts Centre, Melbourne | Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery

Awards + Grants:
2011 Gold Prize, Cheonju International Craft Competition 2011, Cheongju, Korea | Finalist, BKV Prize for Young Applied Artists 2011, Bavarian Crafts Council, Munich | Melbourne Arts Centre Prize, Buda Silver Exhibition, Castlemaine, 2011 | Australia Council for the Arts, Visual Arts Board grant for a residency at the UWE Bristol 2011
2009 Australia Council for the Arts, ArtStart Grant | Judges special mention, Lucca Preziosa Young Contemporary Jewellery Award
2008 Monash University Travel Grant, for study at the Monash Prato Campus, Italy 


Solo Exhibitions:
2012  Melissa Cameron, Gallery CAJ, Kyoto, Japan | In Geometry I Trust, Studio 20/17, Waterloo, Australia,
2009 Iteration, Metalab Gallery, Sydney, Australia, 2009

Exhibitions:
2012 Heat Exchange: Cross continental survey of enamel, Shemer Art Centre and Museum, Phoenix | Transformation 8: The Elizabeth R Raphael Founders Prize 2012, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh | Third Time a Charm, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2011 Itami International Craft Exhibition, Itami Museum of Arts and Crafts, Japan | Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize 2011, Redleaf Council Chambers, Sydney | Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Women 100 Brooches 100 Stories, Gallery Artisan, Brisbane | Cheongju International Craft Competition, Old Tobacco Factory, Cheongju, Korea. | BKV Prize for Young Applied Artists 2011, Bavarian Crafts Council, Munich. | Measuring the Space Between: collaborative exhibition, Studio 20/17, Waterloo NSW. | Love Lace, International Lace Award, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. | Buda 2011: Contemporary Australian Silver and Metalworking Exhibition, Buda Castlemaine. | Winter Neckpieces, Studio 20/17, Waterloo, NSW. | A Couple of Mugs: Commemorative Collectibles, Studio Fusion Gallery, London. | The Butterfly Effect, Toyota Spirit Gallery, Port Melbourne, Victoria. | Recontextualizing the Found Object, Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania, USA. | Lend Me Your Ears, Curated by Dianne Beevers + Part B. Mailbox 141, Melbourne. | The Art of Engagement, Curated by Kristin D’Agostino + Raewyn Walsh, Objectspace, Auckland.
2010 Measuring The Space Between: Collaboration with Chloe Vallance, Hand Held Gallery, Melbourne | Wrapped 2010, Studio 2017, Waterloo NSW. | The Box Project, Curated by Jasmine Matus. Keeper Gallery @ gaffa, Sydney, NSW | Everyday Objects, Curated by Rebecca Hannah, Loft Gallery, Abbotsford, Victoria.
National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Art Gallery | Travelling Scholarship, Noosa Regional Art Gallery | First and Last, Keeper Gallery @ Gaffa | Snip Slice Saw, Hand Held Gallery | Re:Production, Keeper Gallery @ Gaffa | Preziosa Young, Leopoldine Cloister, Torquato Tasso Square, Firenze, Italy | Return, Showcase Gallery, Central Institute of Technology | One Cup, Hand Held Gallery | Recycle Synergy Gallery | REFINED VI: Back to Basics, Reavely Gallery, Cole Arts Centre, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas.
2009 Feast, Depot Gallery | Iteration (solo exhibition), Metalab Gallery | Explorations ’09, Gaffa Gallery and Guildford Lane Gallery | Contemporary Wearables ‘09, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery. | Winter Brooches 2009, Studio 2017 | Buda 2009 Contemporary Australian Silver and Metalworking Exhibition, Buda Homestead Castlemaine and touring exhibition. | Linden Postcard Show 2009, Linden Gallery
2008 30 x 30 x 30, Monash University Faculty Gallery | Made in Italy, Area Contemporary Art Space | In the Making, Craft Victoria
2007 New Traditional Jewellery at Sieraad: International Jewellery and Silver Design Fair, Amsterdam and in touring exhibition. | Expeditions ’07, Gaffa Gallery
2006 Graduate Exhibition, Department of Art, Curtin University | Expeditions ’06, Metalab Gallery. | MatterReality, Moores Building Contemporary Gallery. 

Exhibitions Curated:
2012 Heat Exchange: Cross continental survey of enamel touring exhibition (co-curator with Elizabeth Turrell and Beate Gegenwart), Shermer Art Centre and Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, 2012. Touring Germany, England and Australia. 
2010 Steal This: Part B exhibition. One-night-only lane way exhibition, Hosier La, Melbourne | Return: Five artisans return to their training-ground. (Curated to coincide with the 2010 JMGA conference) Showcase Gallery, Central Institute of Technology, Perth, Western Australia

Residencies 
2011 One month residency in the Enamel Research studio at the Centre for Fine Print Research, University of the West Of England, March 2011

Papers
2010 Examining the connections between architecture and jewellery, presented at the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia Biennial Conference

Workshops:
2011 I_workshops! with Benjamin Lignel, RMIT University | Weaving Fabric with Maryann Talia Pau, Harvest Workroom, East Brunswick
2010 Rapid Prototyping with Dr Nicole Jacquard, RMIT University | Reinterpreting Enamels with Elizabeth Turrell, Manifesto Glass, Perth. | Where Do I Come From? Masterclass with Helen Britton, RMIT University
2009 Black and Night. Masterclass with Bettina Speckner, RMIT University.
2008 Surface in Depth - Jewellery Design with Colored Metals with Stefano Marchetti, at the Handwerkskammer für München und Oberbayern, in the Bildungszentrum München, Akademie für Gestaltung
Memberships 
AJF: Art Jewelry Forum
SNAG: Society of North American Goldsmiths 
Seattle Metals Guild 
Crafthaus: Online Craft Community
Part B: Research Jewellery Cluster, Melbourne, Australia 
Klimt02: International Art Jewellery Online
National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA), Australia

2011 Love Lace, Lindie Ward ed. Powerhouse Publishing, 2011 (Exhib. Cat.) | Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor, Artisan (Exhib. Cat.) | Art Jewelry Today 3, Schiffer Publications, Atglen | 500 Silver Jewelry Designs Lark Crafts, Sterling Publications, New York
2010 Contemporary Wearables 09 by Dr Cassandra Fusco, Craft Arts International #79, Sydney, p.94,95 | Travelling Scholarship, Noosa Regional Gallery (Exhib. Cat.) | Preziosa Young: Contemporary Jewellery, Le Arte Orafe, Firenze (Exhib. Cat.) | Conference paper Examining the connections between architecture and jewellery published online: http://www.craftaustralia.org.au/library/presentation.php?id=jewellery_and_architecture | Wearable Art, Insite Autumn 2010, Perth p.200
2009 Contemporary Wearables, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery (Exhib. Cat.) | Handmade in Melbourne, Slattery Media Group, Melbourne
2008 National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Art Gallery (Exhib. Cat.)

Victoria

e.g.etal
Downstairs 167 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC
www.egetal.com
+61 3 9639 5111

Hand Held Gallery
Suite 18, upstairs
Paramount Arcade
108 Bourke Street
Melbourne, VIC
www.handheldgallery.blogspot.com
+61 3 9654 4006

NSW

Studio 20/17
6b / 2 Danks St
Waterloo, NSW
studio2017.com.au
+61 2 9698 7999

Sterling
Part of Gaffa
281 Clarence Street
Sydney, NSW
www.gaffa.com.au
+61 2 9283 4273

QLD
(m)art + Gallery Artisan
381 Brunswick St
Fortitude Valley, QLD
www.artisan.org.au
+61 7 3215 0808

Bilk Gallery
12 Palmerston Lane,
Manuka, Canberra
bilkgallery.wordpress.com
+61 (0)2 6162 2761