'Impressions of the Valley'

We at Bench have recently undertaken an Artist in Residency (AiR), ‘Impressions of the Valley’ with the Brisbane City Council. The newly revitalised Pod on the Brunswick Street Mall, in Fortitude Valley Brisbane, has been our workshop for the last 3 weeks. There has been a rotating roster of jewelers, from Bench, who have been creating new vibrant works each day that are displayed in a mini pop‐up gallery at the Pod. We have also been running daily workshops asking passers by to take impressions with silicon putty of surfaces, textures and objects along the Mall and surrounding area. We then used the “impressed” putty to create a mould in which we cast resin. The resin was cleaned and prepared as key rings or pendants for those who took the impression to have a “souvenir”, of sorts, from the Valley. We hoped to give those who participated an insight into who jewellery is created at a traditional jewellers bench, as well as mould making and casting techniques.

‘Impressions of the Valley’ Residency 6-24 June 2016