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Dorothy Erickson
Dorothy Erickson is an Australian Master artist-jeweller who has been exhibiting one of a kind jewellery, internationally since 1979, with over 40+ solo exhibitions in Australia and Europe.
In 2020, Dorothy Erickson was inducted into The Design Institute of Australia, Hall of Fame, and received Curtin University's Lifetime Achievement Award. The Royal Western Australian Historical Society conferred a Fellowship on Dorothy Erickson in 2019 and she won the 2017 WA Heritage Award (Individual). Her book Inspired by Light and Land: Designers and Makers in Western Australia 1829-1969was shortlisted for the Premier's Book Award in 2016.
Dr Dorothy Erickson has been exhibiting at Artsite Galleries since 2011, and is represented in numerous public and private collections both in Australia and Internationally.
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My work has varied considerably over the years but enduring interests, are colour, geometry and nature. I have bodies of work that reflect the light and land of Western Australia, others where the focus has been on kinetics in jewellery... my twenty-first century collection features precious gemstones to translate the paintings of Austrian Gustav Klimt into jewels to wear.
Dorothy has been immersed in the unique flora that is Western Australia's heritage for as long as she can remember. Erickson grew up on a farm at Bolgart. Her paternal grandfather had a goldmine and her mother was the naturalist, wildflower painter and author Rica Erickson. She studied botany as part of a teaching degree and the 1960s saw her enrolling at the Chelsea Institute in London while researching Australian plants at Kew Gardens and the Natural History Museum, South Kensington.
Her interest in the minutiae of nature has never waned and in researching the book, A Joy Forever: The Story of Kings Park, she turned her attention to wildflowers as a subject for her jewellery. Following her mother's death in 2009, many pieces were based on Rica’s paintings.
Few of the jewellery pieces are literal translations, instead they evoke the colour, form or habit of individual species of our precious and endangered floral heritage. ~ Dorothy Erickson.
Dorothy Erickson (Phd, UWA 1992) is a significant researcher, writer and art critic in her own right. She has four books published to date, including: A Joy Forever: The Story of Kings Park (2009); Gold and Silversmithing in Western Australia: A History (2010); Inspired by Light and Land: Designers and Makers in Western Australia 1829-1969 (2014) and A Passion for Silversmithing: PHILIP NOAKES: Gold and Silversmith (2019).
Artist Profile
Solo Exhibitions
This Profile page is currently being updated.
| 2016 | Jewels: A Joy Forever, Gray Reid Gallery, Melbourne. | |
| 2015 | Her Mother’s Daughter: Rica and Dorothy Erickson, Ellenbrook Gallery, Ellenbrook WA | |
| 2014 | Twenty first Century Work, Artsite Galleries, Sydney, NSW | |
| 2012 | Artisan, Queensland | |
| 2012 | Artisan, Lubljana, Solvenia | |
| 2009 | Wildflower Collection, Aspects of Kings Park, WA Jam Factory Design Centre, Adelaide, South Australia. |
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| 2006, 05, 04 | From the Sea Shore– St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta. | |
| 2006 | Australian Littoral – Fine Arts Museum, Valetta, Malta | |
| 2005 | Galerie Atelier Leitner, Vienna, Austria. | |
| 2004, 01 | Homage to Klimt- Agnesgasse Galerie, Vienna, Austria, | |
| 2004 | Homage to Klimt - Katherine Kalaf Gallery, Cottesloe, WA | |
| 2004 | Makers Mark Gallery, Melbourne, Vic | |
| 2003, 99 78 | Makers Mark Gallery, Melbourne, Vic | |
| 2003, 99 78 | Australian Littoral- Smynios Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria | |
| 2002 | Galerie Düsseldorf, Perth, Western Australia, | |
| 2001, 85, 84 | Landschaft - Gaswerk Galerie, Schwabach, Germany. | |
| 2001 | Beaver Galleries, ACT, Australia. | |
| 2000, 80 | Aptos Cruz, Stirling, South Australia. | |
| 2000 | Pearl Fisher's Gallery, Broome, Western Australia. | |
| 1993 | The Gallery in the Palais, Vienna, Austria. | |
| 1990 | Contemporary Jewellery Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia. | |
| 1986 | Pilbara Collection - 'L Unique', Adelaide, South Australia. | |
| 1985 | Gallery 62, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. | |
| 1984 | Narek Gallery, Tharwa ACT, Australia. | |
| 1984 | Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney, NSW. | |
| 1983 | Galerie am Graben, Vienna, Austria. | |
| 1983 | Bonython Gallery, Adelaide, SA. | |
| 1981 | Gallery 52, Claremont, WA. | |
| 1980 | Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide, SA. |
Group Exhibitions (Recent)
| 2021 | Know My Name 2, National Gallery of Australia, ACT. Australian National Brooch Show” Contemporary Art Society, Melbourne. |
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2021, 20, 19, |
Artsite Galleries, Sydney, NSW |
| 2020 | “The Best of the West - Aspects of Kings Park, Perth, WA. |
| 2018 | To Have and to Hold, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA. Culture Juice – Beyond Bling, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA. WAnt: contemporary jewellery from WA, The Gallery, Ellenbrook, WA. WAnt: contemporary jewellery from WA, Bunbury Regional Art Galleries, Bunbury, WA. |
| 2011 | Cinderella Stories: WA Contemporary Jewellery, Artsite Galleries, Sydney, NSW Beaver Galleries, Canberra, ACT |
| 2011, 05, 04, 00 | Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Artisan, Qld |
| 2006 | Lesley Craze Galleries, London, UK |
| 2001 | The Crafted Object 1960s-1980s, National Gallery of Australia, ACT. |
| 2000 | Sommerfestival, Galerie Slavik, Vienna, Austria |
| 1997-2000 | Metal Element III, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney, NSW |
| 1992-93 | Artistic Australia, touring exhibition, Japan |
| 1993 | Chicago International New Art Forms Exposition (CINAF), Chicago, USA |
| 1998-99 | The Second Australian Contemporary Jewellery Biennial, Japan |
Awards/Grants
| 2005, 01, 98, 88, 81, 79, 77 |
Master Craftsman Grant and Travel/Study Grants |
| 2000, 97 |
Arts WA Publishing Grant. |
| 1998 |
Arts WA Writing Grant. |
| 1997 |
Arts WA Research Grant |
| 1994 |
Inaugural Powerhouse Prize for Australiana, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW |
| 1991, 90, 89, 88, 87 |
Research Award, University of Western Australia.. |
| 1988 |
Margaret and Herbert Horsfall Bursary, Centre for Fine Arts, UWA. |
| 1986 |
City of Perth Craft Award |
| 1982 |
Professional Development Grant, Australia Council |
Bibliography
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Moore, Margaret. Dorothy Erickson (monograph), published 2000 |
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Cinderella Stories - Contemporary Jewellery from Western Australia - Meredith Hinchcliffe, pp 02-03. Craft Arts International No.83, 2011 |
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Journeys in Design - Vibrant Contemporary Jewellers, Dorothy Erickson, pp 60-63. World of Antiques and Arts Magazine, #81, August, 2011 |
| Dorothy Erickson - Homage to Klimt in Jewellery, Craft Arts International (Sydney) no 62, 2004, pp. 98-99. | |
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Dorothy Erickson, Kinetic jewellery - interacting with light and land, Kathryn Wells, Craft Australia Library series: Interview: 19 April 2011. |
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Anderson, Patricia. Contemporary Jewellery: Australia and New Zealand Sydney: Thames & Hudson, Imprint Craftsman House,1998. |
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Anderson, Patricia, Contemporary Australian Jewellery — 1977-1987. Sydney: Millenium, 1988. Contemporary Jewellery: The Australian Experience covers the thinking and practice since 1977. The books brings together the thoughts and work of fifty-seven Australian jewellers including Dorothy Erickson. |
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Stubbs, Robyn. Jewellery. The Support Yourself Series. Sydney: Fontana/Collins, 1986. |
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Cartlidge, Barbara. Twentieth Century Jewellery. New York: Abrams, 1985. |
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Moult, Alan. Craft in Australia. Sydney: Reed, 1984. |
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Craftworks by 12 Western Australians. Perth: Art Gallery of W.A., 1982. |
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Contemporary Australian Jewellery. Sydney: Craft Board of the Australian Council, 1980. |
Collections
Public Collections |
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT |
Private Collections |
Australia, U.S.A., Canada, UK, Europe, China, Japan, Namibia and New Zealand. |