Papilio ulysses

Sterling Silver, Acrylic, Papilio ulysses Butterfly Wings, Australian Sapphires, Australian Dark Opals.

This work brings together sterling silver, acrylic, Australian sapphires and dark opals, and butterfly wings from an antique naturalist collection. Through these materials I explore themes of possession, fragility and preciousness.
Jewellery has long been a way humans gather, frame, and possess elements of the natural world, elements seen as precious and rare. In this work I reflect on that impulse, capturing an ephemeral and fragile beauty while acknowledging the tension within this act of possession.
In making this work, I found myself reflecting on what it means to gather and hold fragments of the natural world, in a time when so much of it feels increasingly fragile and at risk of slipping away.