The past few weeks I have been working hard to produce a new collection of unique fine jewellery and objects. Each piece starts in wax, which I carefully shape before it is cast into precious metal. I then meticulously solder and hand work each metal form before setting carefully selected diamonds, sapphires and other valuable gemstones. For this collection I have hand set over 100 gems Visit @po8gallery this month to see the jewellery and objects from “beneath the surface” along with a series of large neuroscience prints I created while @qldbraininstitute . . #goldpendant #wip #neuroscience #microscopy #beautifulscience #sciart #sciencejewelry #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand #australiansapphire
Normally invisible, these dynamic branches and tubulations are a just a few of the many internal compartments of a single cell. They’ve been made to glow by using green fluorescent protein found in jellyfish
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When I was studying neuroscience all I wanted to do was get involved in research on consciousness, but I took a side step and started an imaging project in a cancer biology lab with Prof. Jenny Stow @uniofqld This is when I first started using microscopes to image fluorescent proteins in cells.
Its one thing to know that without your awareness every single cell in your body is almost vibrating with activity and something entirely different to actually see it with your own eyes. Looking down into an ocean of darkness and seeing these glowing worlds alive within cells was a profound experience that completely captured my imagination. A few years later I started work establishing an imaging facility @qldbraininstitute so these techniques could be used to study the brain. It’s been such an incredible journey to see this technique move from allowing us to see inside a single cell, like in this movie I captured over a decade ago, to watching every neuron in a brain flashing with activity.
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This dynamic intracellular activity and the even smaller structures that surround these tubules and spheres helped inspire the jewellery and objects I’m exhibiting with @po8gallery this month. Opening night Thursday 6th. Come and see!! . . #neuroscience #microscopy #beautifulscience #sciart #microscopic #fluorescence #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand
Setting blue green Australian sapphires, one of the final steps in creating one of the larger rings for ‘beneath the surface’ - opening @po8gallery this Thursday . . . #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand #australiansapphire #neuroscience #microscopy #beautifulscience #scienceisart #sciart #wip #beneaththesurface
A number of the pieces I’ve created for the exhibition opening @po8gallery next week combine both lost wax and fabrication techiques. This ring holds a beautiful 1ct Australian parti sapphire in 18ct white gold. Illuminated from all sides and visible from above it sits protected by an organic veil of 18ct yellow gold. . Beneath the Surface explores our growing capability to make the invisible visible, which is revealing previously unknown worlds of hidden beauty within us. . . #neuroscience #microscopy #beautifulscience #sciart #sciencejewelry #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand #australiansapphire
Australian sapphires and a brilliant white diamond Sound left on for those still feeling the cold in the northern hemisphere . . #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand #australiansapphire
Sneak preview for my upcoming solo show with @po8gallery / A selection of 11 Australian blue and green sapphires with a brilliant white diamond are set into the inner surface of this 18ct yellow gold ring. Ready for the final centre stone . Beneath the Surface opens April 6 and will include a new collection of fine jewellery, silver sculpture and digital images from my work @qldbraininstitute . #neuroscience #microscopy #beautifulscience #brain #scienceisart #sciart #sciencejewelry #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand #wip #beneaththesurface
Making one of the rings from Beneath the Surface - new solo show opens @artisanqld next Thursday 15th June! Link in bio ☝️ • • #sciart #sciencejewelry #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand #silverring #beneaththesurface
Check out the June issue of SciArt Magazine @sciartglobal for a feature on my recent work with @po8gallery and @artisanqld + work by @kelly_heaton @GDunnArt @NickErvinck and others. Link in their bio • White gold ring from Beneath the Surface with Australian parti sapphire and pink sapphire accent • #neuroscience #microscopy #sciart #sciencejewelry #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand #australiansapphire
Back in New York! I made Grace a ring from the new collection. Yellow gold and white diamond • • • #goldring #sciencejewelry #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand
Oxidised silver fragments surround 14ct yellow gold emerging from within. The upcoming exhibition @artisanqld let me explore some new designs, like this ring which connects the collection with the textures and techniques from Graceful Inner Islands. Looking forward to sharing the new works very soon! • #wip #beautifulscience #sciart #sciencejewelry #silverring #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand
Some sapphires are really hard to let go! This Australian sapphire’s greens and blues are complemented by a beautiful stripe of yellow that runs down the centre. Carefully selected to match an Alexandrite accent stone and set in 18ct yellow gold • • #goldring #sciencejewelry #contemporaryjewellery #australiandesigner #organicjewelry #madebyhand #australiansapphire
• Exciting news • Thank you to everyone who came out to see the show @po8gallery ! I’m grateful for your support You can still find some of the work in Pieces of Eight Gallery and if you’re in Queensland I have some exciting news, part of Beneath the Surface will travel to Brisbane soon to be joined by newly created work for a new solo show in a great space - more details coming very !! • Unfolding object in Sterling silver with Australian parti sapphires • #beneaththesurface #neuroscience #sciart #silversculpture #contemporaryjewellery #organicjewelry #madebyhand #australiansapphire #lukemaninov #lukemaninovhammond
Last day to catch Beneath the Surface @po8gallery • Radial ring and earrings with blue, green, pink and yellow sapphires. • #beneaththesurface #madebyhand #australiansapphire #sciencejewelry #organicjewelry #contemporaryjewellery #pinksapphire
Bright emerald and sapphire towers band in rose gold. A special commission recently made for a client @po8gallery • #madebyhand #emeraldring #contemporaryjewelry #anatomy #organicjewelry #sciencejewelry #anatomy