Currently based in Collingwood (YES ANOTHER ONE, we KNOW we need to venture our of our own backyard a little more frequently!), Ada Hodgson grew up in various coastal locations across Australia. ‘That time has been hugely influential on the way I see the world around me,’ she says, ‘from the stark and often craggy coastlines near Ocean Grove in Victoria, to the turquoise waters and fine white sands of northern Queensland, I’ve always been drawn to the melding of textures and colours’.
Jewellery was a natural fit to explore this fascination, and Ada went on to study gold and silversmithing at RMIT. After her studies, she gained valuable experience working with a number of local jewellers, including Gallery Funaki, Seb Brown and Two Hills. Learning from these supportive employers eventually gave Ada the encouragement to pursue her own aesthetic, and in 2016, she launched her own jewellery label! Her unique pieces are now stocked in stores and galleries throughout Australia, including Kuwaii and Limb in Melbourne, and the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane.
For Ada, inspiration can hit at unexpected times. ‘I often dream of designs, most of which are wild and exciting earrings!’ she says. Working primarily with vitreous enamel (i.e. powdered glass) Ada creates ‘miniature landscapes’ – her creations could be likened to tiny glistening, textural paintings. ‘I learnt to fire enamel at uni, and fell in love with the ability to create my own tiny, wearable dreamscapes,’ she says.
Ada’s latest works are what she calls her ‘imaginary planets’ – pieces inspired by an astronomical view of real and imagined
landscapes, such as arid deserts, grassy plains, rock faces and endless coastlines.
She’s also been experimenting with her Grandfather’s opals. ‘My Grandfather was a hobby lapidarist, who fossicked in Queensland and NSW,’ says Ada. He left my mother with a huge collection of beautifully faceted rocks, including a collection of 23 opals, of which I choose one each year to make a special, individual piece.’
Next up for the thoughtful creative is a new collection inspired by gardens, which she has always been drawn to. ‘I adore the overgrown romanticism and contemplative nature of gardens’ Ada admits. ‘This collection will evoke hidden, walled gardens, full of wonder.’
