ZOË VENESS
Jewellery artist and Senior Lecturer, School of Art & Design, University of New South Wales, Gadigal-Bidjigal/Sydney
EDUCATION
2015 Doctorate of Philosophy, UNSW Art & Design
2005 Master of Design (Research), UNSW Art & Design
1998 Bachelor of Design, UNSW Art & Design
1991 Diploma of Dance, Australian Ballet School, Naarm/Melbourne
UNSW ART & DESIGN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
2022-2024 Deputy Head of School (Design)
2022-2024 Program Director, Bachelor of Design and Master of Design
2022 Academic Lead, Bachelor of Design Program Review
2021-2022 Director of Education
2018-2020 Academic Lead, Object Design, Bachelor of Design Course Development Program
GRANTS, AWARDS & PRIZES
2025 Finalist, MAKE Award, Australian Design Centre
2025 Australian Research Council, Linkage Grant
2023 Winner, Contemporary Wearables ’23 Biennale Jewellery Award Exhibition, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery
2023 UNSW Art & Design Research Grant, Seed Funding Scheme, Design for Circular Economy (Design ForCE) Project
2022 Finalist, National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Art Gallery
2022 Finalist, Lake Art Prize, Museum of Art and Culture, Booragul NSW
2022 Finalist, Profile: Contemporary Jewellery and Object Award, Australian Design Centre, Gadigal/Sydney
2019 Exhibition Development Fund, Contemporary Arts Tasmania
2019 Finalist, Profile, Contemporary Jewellery and Object Award, Australian Design Centre, Gadigal/Sydney
2017 Australia Council, Arts Project Grant
2016 Finalist, National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Art Gallery
2015 Finalist, ITAMI International Jewellery Exhibition, Museum of Arts & Crafts, Japan
2012 UNSW Postgraduate Research Student Support Travel Grant
2007 Finalist, Contemporary Wearables ’07 Biennale Jewellery Award Exhibition, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery
2006 Australia Council, Visual Arts Development Grant
2006 Finalist, City of Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery
2005 Craft-in-Site Grant, Australian Design Centre
2004 Winner, Non-Precious Jewellery Category, National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Art Gallery
2003 Postgraduate Research Grant, UNSW Art & Design
2002 Australia Council, Visual Arts Development Grant
2002 Finalist, City of Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery
2002 Finalist, Talente, International Trade Fair, Munich, Germany
2001 Finalist, Contemporary Wearables ‘01, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery
RESIDENCIES & SCHOLARSHIPS
2011 Australian Postgraduate Award (APA)
2011 UNSW Art & Design Top Up Scholarship
2010 Arthur Boyd Bundanon, Dharawal-Dhurga/West Cambewarra, NSW
2006 Edinburgh College of Art, Jewellery Department, Edinburgh, Scotland
SOLO & JOINT EXHIBITIONS
2024 Still Point, Funaki Gallery, Naarm/Melbourne
2022 The Stream of Time, Woollahra Gallery, Gadigal/Sydney
2019 Affinity with Sylvie Veness, STACKS Projects, Gadigal/Sydney
2017 New Terrain in an Old World, Craft + Design Canberra, Ngunnawal/Canberra
2015 Autonomous Jewellery, Studio 20/17 Contemporary Jewellery, Gadigal/Sydney
2014 To make an end is to make a beginning, AD Space, UNSW Art & Design Gadigal-Bidjigal/Sydney
2009 The Infinite Fold, Jam Factory: Contemporary Craft and Design, Tarndanya/Adelaide
2007 Mathematical Beauty, Project Space, Australian Design Centre, Gadigal/Sydney
2005 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8… Two Cubed, Sherman Galleries, Gadigal/Sydney
2005 Alchemical Analogies II, Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Nowra NSW
2004 Alchemical Analogies, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Gadigal-Bidjigal/Sydney
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2018 Thinking through Making co-curated with Melinda Young. Sydney Craft Week, AD Space UNSW, Gadigal-Bidjigal/Sydney
2017 The Posterzine Project co-curated with Sarah Stubbs. Studio Ingot, Radiant Pavilion: Naarm/Melbourne Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennial
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Poetics of Place II, curated by Melinda Young, ATTA Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
2025 The Familiar in the Foreign - Jewellery from the Southern Hemisphere, Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
2023 Vestige with Jan Hogan, Peter Hughes and Sarah Stubbs, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, nipaluna/Hobart
2023 Paper Scissors Rock, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Dharuk/Windsor, NSW
2023 Melbourne Design Fair, Australian Design Centre presentation curated by Rina Bernabei and Lisa Cahill, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
2020 Made/Worn, Australian Contemporary Jewellery organised by the Australian Design Centre, Gadigal/Sydney. National tour 2020-2023
2020 Design/Isolate, Australian Design Centre, Gadigal/Sydney
2020 Wayfaring with Sarah Stubbs, Bella Dower and Sara Lindsay. Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre, Ngunnawal/Canberra
2019 Picturesque, Jam Factory: Contemporary Craft and Design, Karuna/Barossa, SA
2019 Wayfaring with Sarah Stubbs, Bella Dower and Sara Lindsay. Studio XL_XS, Radiant Pavilion: Naarm/Melbourne Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennial
2017 Urban A-Wear-Ness, Radiant Pavilion: Naarm/Melbourne Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennial, RMIT University, Bowen Lane
2017 Remanence, Ten Days on the Island, Domain House, nipaluna/Hobart
2015 Iterations with Sean O’Connell and Susanna Strati, Stanley Street Gallery, Gadigal/Sydney
2011 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: 100 Women, 100 Brooches, 100 Stories. National tour by Museum and Gallery Services, QLD 2011-2014
2010 Excessory, Contemporary Australian Jewellery, Manly Art Gallery & Museum. National tour by Museums & Galleries NSW, 2011
2008 Fossik Australian Made, London Design Festival
2008 The Blue Room, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
2008 Outside In, Regional Jewellery Artists, curated by Melissa Turner. National tour
2007 Curio: A Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition, Redland Art Gallery, QLD
2007 Spinning Straw, Masterworks Gallery, Tãmaki Makaurau/Auckland, New Zealand
2007 Catch on 2, 32 Australian Contemporary Jewellers, curated by Zu Design, COEX Trade Fair, Seoul, Korea
2007 50 brooches, Craft Queensland Gallery, Meanjin/Brisbane
2007 Metal Element Seven, Quadrivium, Gadigal/Sydney
2007 Design Down Under: Jewelry from Australia and New Zealand, South Shore Art Center, Bancroft Gallery, Boston, USA
2002 Metamorphosis, Emerging Sydney, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland
2002 Metal Element V, Quadrivium, Gadigal/Sydney
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS
Veness, Z. 2023 ‘Wayfaring through Jewellery Practice’. All Hands on Deck, Cross-Disciplinary Symposium, University of Technology, Gadigal/Sydney, 19-21 July 2023. https://allhandsondeck2023.com/symposium-schedule-19-21-july-2023/ Presentation recording
Veness, Z. 2022 ‘Surfaces of Time: Patination and Colouring in Vessel Making’, Histories of Metallurgy and Metal Material Culture, Centre for Art History and Art Theory, Australian National University, Ngunnawal-Ngambri/Canberra, Friday 18 November 2022.
Veness, Z. 2022. ‘Resilience Narratives: Shifting Imperatives of Material-Making during Times of Crisis’, New Networks, ACUADS/DDCA Conference Proceedings. RMIT University. https://acuads.com.au/conference/article/resilience-narratives-shifting-imperatives-of-material-making-during-times-of-crisis/
Samsarasekara, I., Moline, K., Veness, Z. 2022. ‘Reimagining the Cosmopolitanism of Sri Lanka through Cultural Artefacts’, New Networks, ACUADS/DDCA Conference Proceedings. RMIT University. https://acuads.com.au/conference/article/reimagining-the-cosmopolitanism-of-sri-lanka-through-cultural-artefacts/
Veness, Z. 2021. ‘Folding Space-Time: Wayfaring through Object Making’. Jewellery Values – Materiality, Making & Movement (Sydney) 9 October. Value Chains Reset: The JMGA Conference Redistributed. ANU, Garland Magazine & Australian Design Centre.
Veness, Z. 2021. ‘Post-Covid reflections on material making for design students at Art & Design University of New South Wales’. NiTRO – Non-traditional Research Outcomes. 30 July. https://nitro.edu.au/articles/2021/7/30/post-covid-reflections-on-material-making-for-design-students-at-art-amp-design-university-of-new-south-wales
Veness, Z. 2020. ‘New Terrain in an Old World’. Frangipani: Garland Compendium Three. Melbourne: Garland Magazine. ISBN: 978-0-9875154-6-9.
Veness, Z. 2019. ‘Wayfaring’. Garland Magazine. 2 September. https://garlandmag.com/loop/zoe-veness/
Veness, Z. 2018. ‘New Terrain in an Old World’. Garland Magazine. 1 June. https://garlandmag.com/article/new-terrain-in-an-old-world/
Hogan, J., Veness, Z., Jones, S., and Hughes, P. 2018. ‘Reparation: Three Points of Contact.’ ACHRC: Humanities in the Regions/Collaborating with Collecting and Cultural Institutions Symposium. Launceston, Tasmania: University of Tasmania. 10-11 May.
Veness, Z. 2017. ‘New Terrain in an Old World’. Exh. Cat. Hobart: Zoe Veness. ISBN: 978-0-6481842-0-1.
Keating, M., Norrie, H. Kratz, S., Veness, Z. and Juliff, T. 2017. ‘Praxis Now: Frayling’s ‘Research in Art and Design’ 24 years on.’ ACUADS/DDCA Conference Proceedings. Canberra: ANU School of Art and Design. 28-29 September. https://acuads.com.au/conference/article/praxis-now-fraylings-research-in-art-and-design-24-years-on/
Fountain, W., Veness, Z., Kratz, S., Wise, K., Jones, S. 2017. ‘Preparing to Co-design new design education for Tasmania, ‘design island.’ REDO Cumulus Conference, Design School Kolding, Denmark, 30 May-2 June.
Veness, Z. and Tieu, B. 2016. ‘Poetic Dimensions: Jewellery Conversations about Design Process.’ ICDHS | The International Conference on Design History and Design Studies: Making Trans/national Contemporary Design History. Taipei. 26 - 28 October. https://www.proceedings.blucher.com.br/article-details/poetic-dimensions-jewellery-conversations-about-design-process-24196
Veness, Z. 2015. ‘To make an end is to make a beginning’. Edgesbordersgaps. 16th Jewellery and Metalsmiths Group of Australia Conference. Sydney: Sydney College of the Arts. 10-12 July.
Veness, Z. 2012. ‘Holding time: An analysis of jewellery making’. Making: An International Conference on Materiality and Knowledge. Notodden, Norway: Telemark University College. 24-27 September.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Musée des Arts Décoratifs
National Gallery of Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia, Rhianon Vernon-Roberts Memorial Collection & Decorative Arts Collection
Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery - Toowoomba City Collection
Griffith Regional Art Gallery, National Contemporary Jewellery Award Collection
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024 Gellatly, Kelly. ‘On the Verge of Movement’. Art Jewelry Forum, 26 August. https://artjewelryforum.org/reviews/zoe-veness-on-the-verge-of-movement_exhib_australia_8-26-2024/
2021 Clement, Tracey. ‘Artists use the language of jewellery to explore ideas’. Art Guide Online, 15 July. https://artguide.com.au/artists-use-the-language-of-jewellery-to-explore-ideas/
2021 Wolifson, Chloé. ‘The Language of Jewellery’. Design Anthology Magazine – Australian Edition pp.71-74, 31 May.
2020 Harrison, Kay. ‘Scribbly gums and sublime peaks: jewellery that speaks to place and finding your own path’ by Kay Harrison, UNSW Newsroom, 1 Oct. https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/art-architecture-design/scribbly-gums-and-sublime-peaks-jewellery-speaks-place-and-finding-your
2017 Kunda, Maria. ‘It presides over everything in this place’, New Terrain in an Old World. Exh. Cat. Hobart: Zoe Veness. ISBN: 978-0-6481842-0-1.
2017 Zafiriou, Yiorgos. ‘Newness in an Old World’, New Terrain in an Old World. Exh. Cat. Hobart: Zoe Veness. ISBN: 978-0-6481842-0-1.
2015 Ewington, Julie. ‘Wearing it lightly’, Autonomous Jewellery. Exh. Cat. Sydney: Zoe Veness.
2010 Interview. Excessory, Contemporary Australian Jewellery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOk1yh--yZc (uploaded August 12, 2010).
2010 Excessory – Contemporary Australian Jewellery. Exh. Cat. Sydney: Museum & Galleries NSW.
2009 Clement, Tracey. ‘More than metal & gems’. Driven Magazine no. 3, pp. 18-23.
2009 Sheen, Rani. ‘Code Poet’, Silverlimbo online magazine. Issue 2, pp. 79-82. https://issuu.com/silverlimbo/docs/silverlimbo2/79
2007 Catch On 2. Exh. Cat. Adelaide: Zu Design.
2007 Contemporary Wearables ’07. Exh. Cat. Toowoomba: Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery.
2007 Curio: A Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition. Exh. Cat. Brisbane: Redland Art Gallery.
2007 Farmer, Margaret. ‘The Beautiful Alchemist’, COFA Magazine no.19, p.38.
2007 Integration: The Nature of Objects. Exh. Cat. Sydney: Ivan Dougherty Gallery.
2006 City of Hobart Art Prize Jewellery/Printmaking. Exh. Cat. Tasmania: Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery.
2006 LeVan, Marthe (ed.) The Art of Paper Jewelry, Lark Books: NY.
2004 Osborne, Margot. ‘Zoe Veness: Beauty and Alchemy’. COFA Magazine no. 10, p.12.
2003 Cunningham, Jack. ‘Metamorphosis – Emerging Sydney’, Crafts Arts International no. 59, p. 107.
2002 Talente. Exh. Cat. Munich: Bayerischer Handwerkstag e. V., p. 109.
2002 Litson, Jo. ‘Craft Masters in demand for Munich’, The Australian, 15 March, p.19.