Contemporary jeweller and glass maker Jess Dare completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts at the Adelaide Centre for the Arts TAFEsa in 2006. She is a partner in the Gray Street Workshop (est.1985), alongside Catherine Truman and Sue Lorraine. She exhibits nationally and internationally and is represented in major national collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the National Glass Collection.

Jess has undertaken international residencies researching floral culture in Thailand (2014) and China (2015). In 2016/17 she worked closely with Professor Richard Johnson creating a permanent memorial in Martin Place, Sydney, symbolising the sea of flowers laid by thousands of people following the December 2014 Martin Place siege.

“As a jeweller I have always been drawn to the miniature, it’s how I view the world, in small minute details.  For me, this intimate scale draws people into my sense of wonder, whilst the gigantic thrusts a world upon the viewer. I also use this scale to accentuate the sense of intrigue and awe that I get from the natural world. My work draws parallels between the different ways that throughout history people have attempted to preserve flowers by means of illustration, photography, flower pressing, specimen collection and botanical models.”  Jess Dare