SIFT

RADIANT PAVILION, GOLDWORKS STUDIO, 14 – 22 SEPTEMBER 2024

Liv Boyle + Sara Retallick

Sift is a collaborative exhibition by Liv Boyle and Sara Retallick, exploring material exchanges between contemporary jewellery and sound art practices.

This project is a two-window installation located at Goldworks Studio on Gold St, Collingwood, and is presented as part of Radiant Pavilion Naarm/Melbourne Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennial 2024.

 
 

Drill Card: Te Rangiita Kōwhai, kōwhai seeds, pumice, sheoak needle, cardboard, tape, 290 x 390 x 5mm

The term Sift refers to the examination and capture of materials – both physically and sonically – with focus on selection, experimentation, and refinement. Editing and arranging processes become common parameters between the artist’s practices, providing a structural basis for creative development.

While jewellery and sculptural explorations occupy the space, sound is delivered onsite via QR code for streaming, or by clicking the LISTEN link below. This material exchange examines how distinct disciplines can interpret the same materials in different ways, using sound and contemporary jewellery practices to trace the possibilities of sculptural and sonic assemblages.

LISTEN

White Sand [necklace], beach plastic – nurdles (West St Kilda), freshwater pearls, sterling silver, silk, 4 x 1,055mm

White Sand [necklace], beach plastic – nurdles (West St Kilda), freshwater pearls, sterling silver, silk, 4 x 1,055mm

Loose [necklace], beach plastic – blue floats & nurdles (collected by Dr. Jennifer Lavers, Henderson Island), freshwater pearls, onyx, silk, sterling silver, 34 x 1,730mm

Loose [necklace], beach plastic – blue floats & nurdles (collected by Dr. Jennifer Lavers, Henderson Island), freshwater pearls, onyx, silk, sterling silver, 34 x 1,730mm

'Walking' [necklace], beach plastic - white sticks (collected by Dr. Jennifer Lavers, Henderson Island), oxidised stg silver, indigo australis dyed silk, 3.5 x 1,450mm

'Walking' [necklace], beach plastic - white sticks (collected by Dr. Jennifer Lavers, Henderson Island), oxidised stg silver, indigo australis dyed silk, 3.5 x 1,450mm

White Sand [necklace], beach plastic – nurdles (West St Kilda), freshwater pearls, sterling silver, silk, 4 x 1,055mm

White Sand necklace_pearls nurdles_SIFT_Liv Boyle Jeweller_5545.jpg
White Sand necklace_pearls nurdles_SIFT_Liv Boyle Jeweller_5544.jpg
Eddy [necklace], beach plastic & nurdles (collected by Dr. Jennifer Lavers, Henderson Island), freshwater pearls, coral, citrine, silk, 18ct gold, 24ct gold, 13 x 6 x 600mm

Eddy [necklace], beach plastic & nurdles (collected by Dr. Jennifer Lavers, Henderson Island), freshwater pearls, coral, citrine, silk, 18ct gold, 24ct gold, 13 x 6 x 600mm

Affectionately named Eddy, this incongruous collection of materials, both opulent and tragic, references the eddies and ocean currents that carried its parts to the remote, uninhabited shores of Henderson Island in the south Pacific. A salmon-like fillet of beach plastic hangs from seed-strung nurdles, coupled with pearls and coral to describe changing compositions of sand affected by anthropogenic debris. Eddy continues Boyle’s treatment of marine plastics as precious, derailing entrenched notions of the exotic, while giving voice to ecosystems affected by the ocean plastic pollution crisis.

Walking necklace_plastic silver_SIFT_Liv Boyle Jeweller_5549.jpg
Walking necklace_plastic silver_SIFT_Liv Boyle Jeweller_5553.jpg
Walking necklace_plastic silver_SIFT_Liv Boyle Jeweller_5554.jpg
Walking necklace_plastic silver_SIFT_Liv Boyle Jeweller_5555.jpg
Merricks I, II, III, IV [objects], found calcium carbonate [Merricks Foreshore], copper, sterling silver

Merricks I, II, III, IV [objects], found calcium carbonate [Merricks Foreshore], copper, sterling silver

Mussel Escort [found object with brooch], copper, sterling silver, beach plastic – nylon, seaweed [Anzac beach, Phillip Island], 65 x 84 x 75mm approx

Mussel Escort [found object with brooch], copper, sterling silver, beach plastic – nylon, seaweed [Anzac beach, Phillip Island], 65 x 84 x 75mm approx

Yellow [necklace], kōwhai seeds, gorse-dyed silk, gold-plated copper, 5 x 5 x 700mm

Yellow [necklace], kōwhai seeds, gorse-dyed silk, gold-plated copper, 5 x 5 x 700mm

Installation experiment view – Sift, 2024, nurdles (Henderson Is.), hydrophone, water, glass, dimensions variable. Photo by Sara Retallick

Collaborator

Sara Retallick is an artist, composer, and researcher living and working on Wurundjeri Country in Naarm (Melbourne). Her work explores multisensory listening as a core concern by creating tactile sonic encounters in audio and object-based installation, multichannel sound system arrangements, sound design and performance. Her current research is focused on presenting electroacoustic vocal compositions underwater to expand sonic, physical, and material possibilities of sound and listening. Sara has recently completed a MFA at UNSW and has presented installations and performances nationally and internationally.

This exhibition is part of Radiant Pavilion 2024 Naarm/Melbourne Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennial, with support from the City Of Yarra.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands where this work was collected, developed, and created. We offer our respects to their elders past and present.

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