Emberbloom Kangaroo Paw Brooch by Xinze Yu

Only Once - Contemporary Jewellery Exhibition 2026

Iron painting, 3D-printed anodised titanium, stainless steel.
60 x 54 x 9mm

Emberbloom is inspired by Australian post-fire plants and their ability to regenerate after bushfire. The series reflects my cross-cultural perspective as a Chinese contemporary jewellery artist, bringing together traditional iron painting with 3D-printed anodised titanium. The blackened iron forms evoke charred landscapes and the metallic traces left after fire, while the iridescent titanium elements suggest new life emerging from ash. Through these contrasts, the brooches explore fire not only as destruction, but also as part of an ecological cycle of renewal, adaptation, and resilience.

Xinze Yu is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney's College of Art, where her research explores narrative issues in Australian ecology and contemporary jewellery. She has exhibited internationally across London, Sheffield, Nanjing, and beyond, receiving awards in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. Drawing on her Chinese heritage, Xinze works primarily with metals and traditional craft techniques, using them as a lens to examine Oriental thought, contradictory social phenomena, and cross-cultural experience. Her practice moves fluidly between hand-forging and emerging technologies, including 3D printing and anodising, developed through interdisciplinary collaboration. Her recent series Emberbloom exemplifies this synthesis. Responding to Australia's 2019 Black Summer bushfires, the brooches are constructed from blackened iron and anodised titanium, materials chosen to embody both destruction and renewal. The iron references charred remnants and plant resilience, while iridescent titanium evokes new life blooming from ash. The work is informed by Indigenous cool burning practices and a lifelong attentiveness to seasonal plant rhythms rooted in traditional Chinese reverence for the natural world.
Xinze's broader ambition is to unite contemporary jewellery with nature, advance thinking and making in equal measure, and give technically refined works a meaningful spiritual core.

Please note*
This piece is part of an exhibition, so when purchased please know that it will ship after the exhibition finishes on 27th September 2026.