Liv Boyle — 'We Seed' Necklace, 2023

This necklace is a slow meditation on plastic and the problems it's causing for marine ecosystems indiscriminately.

As part of an ongoing art-science collaboration, these nurdles were collected by marine eco-toxicologist, Dr Jennifer Lavers, during a ground-breaking Research Expedition to Henderson Island in 2019, studying the highest concentration of plastic pollution on record, in one of the most remote places on earth. Laboriously gathered, cleaned, drilled, and threaded, this seaweed-like strand is populated with a scattering of handmade mussels sentinels for aquatic health, clinging on for dear life.

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New Zealand-born cross-disciplinary artist Liv Boyle works in Naarm, Melbourne. Liv collects and re-imagines materials with site-specific relevance, transforming discrete findings into contemporary jewellery and objects. Her work investigates peripheries such as beaches, often referencing indicator species in ecosystems under pressure. Exploring the relational values of art and science, collaboration underpins and enriches Liv’s research-based practice. Liv holds a BFA in Sculpture, Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland (2005), and an Advanced Diploma of Jewellery Engineering, Melbourne Polytechnic (2013).

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Invocations

Read about the exhibition

Material: plastic nurdles (Henderson Island), oxidised copper, seaweed dyed silk (Neptune’s Necklace, Bull Kelp)

Dimensions: approx. 262 x 0.7 x 0.4cm