Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery
531 Ruthven Street Toowoomba QLD 4350
30 August—23 November 2025
Wed to Sun 10.30am–3.30pm
Closed Mon, Tue & Public Hols.
Free Admission
Showcasing some of Australia’s most prominent and emerging contemporary makers, this exhibition is the focus of Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery’s contribution to promoting excellence in contemporary adornment. The award is a forum for innovative contemporary jewellery and object practice.
‘Sea’ Neckpiece by Kathryn Wardill, has been included in the exhibition:
“Sea”
“Sea” is a contemporary art jewellery object that explores the dynamic and fluid relationship between natural forces and material transformation. Created from silver and hand-worked glass, this work draws direct inspiration from the ocean’s shifting hues, textures, and movements. The composition—ranging from deep cobalt to pale turquoise—echoes the gradation of the sea from its mysterious depths to its sunlit shallows. The clustered glass forms resemble droplets, coral, or even microscopic marine life, suspended as if mid-motion, capturing the essence of aquatic vitality.
The silver framework provides both contrast and structure, evoking the strength beneath the water’s surface, like a reef anchoring an ecosystem. Each glass element is individually formed, highlighting the artist’s intentional slowness and care, a deliberate counter to mass production and a reflection on the fragility of marine environments. The tactile nature of the piece invites intimate interaction, emphasising jewellery as both adornment and embodied memory.
“Sea” is not only an aesthetic object but also a meditation on climate, beauty, and impermanence. Through the interplay of material and metaphor, it seeks to draw the wearer into a deeper awareness of their connection to the natural world, particularly to the oceans that sustain and inspire life.