Alison Jackson is a designer-maker, jeweller and contemporary Silversmith based in Braidwood, Australia. Completing a Gold and Silversmithing degree at the Australian National University, Alison holds over two decades of artistic and technical metal forming expertise.
Craftsmanship and the way pieces are made has always been an influence to Alison. From the way two surfaces join together, a junction, or the way an edge has been finished, it’s all in the details of an object. It is the perfection of being imperfect and the distinctive nature of structures and objects that inspires her.
By linking the rich history of metal-working to present-day artistic practices, Alison intertwines her fine hand-crafting skills with the experimental nature of design and metal forming.
With an aesthetic best described as elegant, timeless, and minimal, Alison showcases her work through her fine jewellery, tableware, large scale installation, limited editions and exhibition work.
Alison’s work is held in both public and private collections, including a signifigant acquisition by the Canberra Museum and Gallery. A recipient of numerous notable awards and grants such as the Australia Council for the Arts and artsACT project grants, Alison’s work has been exhibited widely within Australia and also internationally, including at Inhorgenta (Germany) and Milan Design Week (Italy).
Solo Exhibitions
2016 — Lost in Thought, Gray Street Workshop, Adelaide
2015 — Table Tools, Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre, Canberra
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 — Making: A Way of Life (in collaboration with Dan Lorrimer), CraftACT, Canberra
2019 — Visionaries, CraftACT, Canberra
2019 — In Reverence of Tea, Bridget Kennedy Project Space, North Sydney
2017 — You’re as cold as ice, KIN Gallery, Canberra
2017 — COLLECT: A Ritual of Tea, JamFactory, Adelaide
2017 — STEEL: Art Design Architecture, JamFactory, Adelaide (travelling until 2020)
2016 — Citizens of Craft, Craft ACT Craft and Design Centre, Canberra
2016 — Cross-Phase: An Exploration of Materiality, Nishi Gallery, Canberra
2014 — Awaken, Craft ACT Accredited Professional Members Exhibition, Craft ACT, Canberra
2014 — Only Spoons, Handwerksform, Hannover, Germany
2014 — MADE3 Vol. 1, He Made She Made, Darlinghurst, Sydney
2014 — Object Futures II, AllPress Studios, Collingwood, Melbourne
2014 — The Other Hemisphere, DesignEx, Sydney
2014 — The Other Hemisphere, Ventura Lambrate, Milan, Italy
2013 — FIVEFOLD, Pod, Canberra
2013 — YOUNG.HOT.CANBERRA, Gallery of Australian Design, Canberra
2012 — A Table - Zu Tisch, Studio Gabi Green, Munich, Germany
2012 — Bilk Gallery on Tour, Incinerator Gallery, Melbourne & Sydney
2012 — Design:Made:Trade, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
2011 — All I want..., Bilk Gallery, Canberra
2011 — Table Culture, Inhorgenta 2011, Munich, Germany
2010 — 16th Silver Triennial, Hanau, Germany, touring Germany and Belgium
2010 — New Jewels, Workshop Bilk, Queanbeyan|
2010 — Graduate Metal XII, Gallery Central, Perth
2009 — Winter Brooches, Studio 20/17, Waterloo, Sydney
2009 — Alumina: Recent work by Gold and Silversmithing Workshop Alumni, ANU School of Art Gallery, Canberra
2009 — Colourful Christmas, Workshop Bilk, Queanbeyan
2008 — Green Christmas, Workshop Bilk, Queanbeyan
Selected Awards
2021 — artsACT Project Grant
2016 — Australia Council of the Arts Project Grant
2015 — Canberra Critics’ Circle Award for solo exhibition, Table Tools
2015 — Finalist, Temple & Webster Emerging Designer
2014 — artsACT Project Funding Grant for 2015
2014 — Australia Council New Work Grant 2015, Early Career
2014 — Finalist, LaunchPad
2014 — CAPO30, Rosalie Gascoigne Memorial Award
2013 — Runner Up, Craft & Object Design, Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards
2012 — artsACT Project Funding
2012 — JUMP mentoring grant (mentor: Maike Dahl)
2010 — Excellence in Craftsmanship, Challenging Construction and Resolution (awarded at Graduate Metal XII)
2008 — The Silver Society of Australia Inc. Contemporary Silver Award
Public Collections
Canberra Museum and Gallery, ACT