Southern Shan Shui: interpreting reimagined Australian landscapes through contemporary jewellery

This practice-based research project explores the interplays of Chinese landscape art and contemporary jewellery and objects in the context of the Australian landscape. Living and travelling in Australia as a Chinese foreigner led me to interpret the intercultural experience through depicting natural and inner Australian landscapes. To elaborate on this and to contribute innovation through this research project, I apply the artistic lens and cultural perspective of traditional Chinese landscape art to the subject of Australian landscapes. Through exploring methods of Chinese landscape depictions and Australian landscapes, I produced a body of work consisting of wearable jewellery and objects. These artefacts of Australian landscapes reinterpreted through a Chinese imagination investigate the contemporary individual experiences and perceptions in the natural and social landscapes of Australia. The findings and outcomes of this research project illuminate the potential and capacity of utilising contemporary jewellery and objects to investigate and encapsulate the convergence of Chinese and Australian materials, landscapes, and cultures.