Artist: Melissa Cameron, Australia
Materials: stainless steel, 925 silver
Size: 8
Dimensions: 52 x 52 x 35 mm
Artist Statement: This ring is made from a series of interconnected parts drawn and cut as a single flat pattern. I started with one telescoping design, drawn in AutoCad, to test out bracelet ideas for a commission. Once I started I liked it so much I duplicated it, altering parts on the second circular pattern, in the end making enough pieces for a series of jewels. To test the original bracelet idea, I hand-cut a section of the pattern to make 3 prototypes in 925 silver. Liking this, I had the full pattern laser cut - once in stainless steel, and once in titanium. Using all the parts from these two cuts I made 27 more works. The resulting 30-piece show, 'One Design', debuted in Sydney at the beloved (and now retired) Studio 2017 during Sydney Design Week. This ring, One Design Ring #2, is a one-of-a-kind ring made from the stainless steel version of the pattern, with the addition of steel cable and a 925 silver ring.
Artist Bio: Melissa is an Australian artist with Anglo-Celtic ancestry, who spent close to seven years living in Seattle, in the USA. She holds degrees in interior architecture and jewellery/metalsmithing. Her practice is centred on her deep empathy towards the human body and the suffering that different bodies endure for political reasons. She moved to Melbourne from Perth to do her MFA at Monash University, and from there went to the USA. In Seattle she would occasionally teach at Danaca Design, and attended all the parties, crammed into the great space in the U District! She returned to her hometown, Perth, Australia in 2018 to hang with her family of origin more regularly. She now protests the patently unfair and unequal relationships between communities of people in Australia through her art.
This ring is part of Battle of the Rings: Ring Smackdown 2022, an online exhibition and competition. Shop the entire collection , view the matches , and learn more .
Rings from this collection will ship or be available for pick up after the competition concludes on April 29.
