Shinfield Solastalgia Seedbank Boutonniere Brooch - Regina Krawets

From the studio of Sydney jeweller Regina Krawets comes the 'Shinfield Solastalgia' series, including the 'Seedbank Boutonniere' brooch. A contemporary nod to a traditional floral buttonhole, this silver brooch has been cast in sterling silver from a cluster of gumnuts and then oxidised to a richly textural patina.

Of the series, Regina says "The concept of ‘solastalgia’, first coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2005, describes a feeling akin to homesickness when your home environment is changing in ways you find distressing and is often associated with the sense of helplessness and sadness experienced over environmental damage due to climate change.

"I have been fortunate to call home a place surrounded by towering gums, ponds, native flora and fauna, yet with all the amenity and convenience that living in the city provides. The air is fresh, I can hear the sounds of nature, wind in the trees and whenever I look up, from every vantage I can see foliage that tracks the seasons. But soon my little pocket of paradise will change and I feel the weight of a loss I haven’t yet experienced.

"Shinfield Solastalgia explores my personal sense of disquiet around the imminent changes to the natural environment around me due to the construction of a multi-residential development."

Oxidised sterling silver.

Stainless steel brooch pin.

35mm wide x 15mm high.

Regina Krawets is an award-winning artist based in Sydney, NSW, who creates contemporary jewellery which merges her love of architectural forms, colour and textiles. Building on an appreciation of repetition in design, and the belief in the maxim that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts that first attracted her to beadwork, Regina continues to draw inspiration from her urban environment, exploring notions of its intersection with nature and its inhabitants, identity and belonging, as well as issues of sustainability.