Melissa Cameron wins gold in Korea!

One of our favorite gallery artists is on a bit of an award winning roll!
A BIG congrats to Melissa (again).
see below for an except of the press release…..
Melissa Cameron, a Saint Kilda based jewellery artist, has taken out a gold prize at the 7th Cheongju International Craft Competition in Korea. The biennial competition, which tasks crafts artists to respond to a set theme, was this year entitled ‘Not the new, just the necessary.’ Seemingly inspired by austerity measures that are currently gripping many world economies, the motto was interpreted by the judge to mean that, “In a world that is characterized by an overflow of things… it could be the role of crafts to make people think about what is really important, what is the true basis of our life today.” Cameron’s metal work entitled “Circle Plate Set” was a surprise stand out, in a year where ceramics dominated the top end of the prize pool, winning the Grand Prize and two out of four gold prizes. Cameron’s piece, made from an antique electroplated plate (with nickel-silver under the silver plating), was designed to exploit this novel material, to create a set of three jewellery pieces comprising of a bracelet, brooch and neckpiece. The competition was judged by German art historian and curator Stephan von der Schuleburg, who had this to say about Cameron’s piece; “an outstanding work perfectly expressing the motto of this Biennale. It is a recycled nickel silver plated plate hand-sawn
into a number of jewellery items. There is a surprising beauty in these tender works of jewellery, and, with a smile, they breath[e] the spirit of sustainability.” The presentation of awards will take place at the opening of the exhibition in Cheongju, Korea, in September. Cameron intends to use her US $10,000 prize money to attend the award ceremony, and corresponding symposium.