Michelle Weare

Michelle Weare is an artist from the Atherton Tablelands whose practice centres on the creation of distinctive jewellery through the seasonal cultural collecting and harvesting of natural seeds. These materials are carefully hand-sorted and cured using traditional methods before being formed into wearable works.

Beginning with an early interest in craft, Michelle’s practice evolved from painting into jewellery making, with a focus on seed-based works that reflect the environment of Tropical Far North Queensland. Drawing on the colours, textures and forms of rainforest Country, her work expresses a close relationship to place and natural materials.

Historically, similar objects were made by Elders and threaded on hand-spun bush string, worn predominantly for ceremony. For Michelle, this knowledge is carried forward through practice; her jewellery holds story and memory, and offers a way of sharing childhood experiences of growing up in rainforest Country.