Michelle Wilkinson

Contemporary jewellery can be used to raise awareness of the complex issues facing society and the environment. Bringing together the concepts of extinction, biodiversity loss and the biological consequences of the Anthropocene, this work aims to encourage people to learn more about the environment through the jewellery object, and the conscious act of wearing and interacting with it. These pieces are a fragment of a series of 61 brooches that capture shadows of the birds that have become extinct in New Zealand since human colonisation.

Instilled with atmosphere and weighted with loss, these mourning brooches were taken out into the habitats where the bird once lived and photographed, tying each brooch to place and spreading public awareness through interaction. This return of the brooches to nature is a cathartic means of connection to other species, living and dead.