Julie Blyfield: Chasing a passion celebrates the lifework of renowned South Australian jeweller and metalsmith Julie Blyfield and her status as a JamFactory ICON. In 2007, Blyfield became the recipient of the South Australian Living Artist (SALA) Award, one outcome of which was the publication of a monograph on her work written by Stephanie Radok and Dick Richards.
This second volume detailing Blyfield's prolific artistic career identifies the developments and salient influences in her practice in the 17 years since the publication of the SALA monograph. Although this book particularly focuses on the work made in her home studio following her departure from Gray Street Workshop at the end of 2009, an overview of her earlier practice is included, with the aim of both contextualising and providing insight into the work made by her in the last decade and a half.
The book features an essay by Bronwyn Watson that offers a vivid and intimate portrait of Blyfield set against the backdrop of her home studio, highlighting the importance of her much-loved garden in providing inspiration for her work. A curated selection of archival texts explore Blyfield's major bodies of work and exhibitions since 2007, featuring pieces of writing that offer insights from those who have worked closely with Blyfield over the years, along with a small reflective piece by Blyfield herself. These existing texts - by Helen Fuller, Wendy Walker, Dr Elizabeth Goring, Caroline Billing, Julie Ewington, Bronwyn Watson and Emma O'Neill - follow. Spanning 2000-2024, these previously published essays and reviews discuss Blyfield's key works and pivotal exhibitions. The book concludes with an dedicated insight into Blyfield's most recent work, the Viridescent Corallium series, by JamFactory Curator and Exhibitions Manager Caitlin Eyre, who worked with Blyfield in the development of the national touring exhibition JamFactory ICON Julie Blyfield: Chasing a passion.
