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Object: stories of design and craftContemporary design and craft in Australia Author: Australian Design Centre
Contemporary design and craft in Australia. Season 3 goes behind the scenes of the 2023 MAKE Award, Australia's newest and richest national award celebrating innovation in contemporary craft and design. Meet the winner Vipoo Srivilasa; and finalists High Tea with Mrs Woo; Julie Blyfield, Csongvay Blackwood, and Johannes Kuhnen. Hear from MAKE Award judges Jason Smith, Hyeyoung Cho and Brian Parkes. Season 2 is all about ceramics - production pottery, teaching and learning with clay, museum collections, personal collecting, working with galleries, and ceramics writing and photography. Hear from Ilona Topolcsanyi, Brett Stone, Jane Sawyer, Robyn Phelan and Eva Czernis-Ryl. Season 1 explores the Masters of Craft - nationally and internationally acclaimed Australian craftspeople working in ceramics, jewellery, textiles and metal. Why does their work matter? How do they keep going? Whats their advice for makers now? Hear from artists Prue Venables, Jeff Mincham, Lola Greeno, Liz Williamson, Les Blakebrough, Marian Hosking and Robert Baines, and go behind the scenes on the making of the 'Living Treasures' program with Brian Parkes. Object: stories of design and craft is by the Australian Design Centre. It's hosted by our CEO and Artistic Director Lisa Cahill. Production by Jane Curtis, with production support by Alix Fiveash. Sound engineering by John Jacobs. Language: en Genres: Arts, Crafts, Design, Leisure Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Cinnamon Lee, 2025 MAKE Award winner
Episode 11
Monday, 3 November, 2025
Host Lisa Cahill meets with the winner of the 2025 MAKE Award, metalsmith and jeweller Cinnamon Lee. Cinnamon tells us about her hybrid practice combining jewellery and lighting, the intricate process of making her winning work Noctua, and the hidden meanings embedded throughout the piece. You'll hear from judges Brian Parkes and Simone LeAmon on what made Cinnamon's work a prize-winning piece.Sydney-based artist Cinnamon Lee is trained as a gold and silversmith, creating wearable objects in the form of jewellery and non-wearable objects in the form of lighting. Her practice is characterised by meticulous hand-crafted detail, hidden elements, and a fascination with creating "more than meets the eye." Lee has been a practising artist for 30 years, having studied and taught at the Canberra School of Art's Gold and Silversmithing workshop.GuestsCinnamon Lee, metalsmith and jewellerBrian Parkes, CEO at JamFactory, Adelaide, South AustraliaSimone LeAmon, inaugural curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the National Gallery of VictoriaShow highlights and takeaways[00:03] Secrets and hidden beauty"Everybody likes a secret." Cinnamon Lee introduces her philosophy on jewellery and the personal relationship between object and wearer. She discusses her practice of hiding gemstones – sometimes partially, sometimes completely – inside rings and other pieces.[02:54] A young metalworkerCinnamon describes how she discovered metalworking at age 17 through Enmore Design Centre, where her mother was teaching. "Once I was in that workshop it was like I'd found my calling, which I feel really fortunate about because it happened quite quickly."She spent the next decade studying and eventually teaching at the Canberra School of Art's Gold and Silversmithing workshop with Johannes Kuhnan and Ragnar Hansen. "It completely changed my life, that workshop."[04:47] Cinnamon's practiceCinnamon explains that she creates both wearable objects (jewellery) and non-wearable objects (lighting), often using very precious materials.[00:05:12] Winning the 2025 MAKE AwardLisa congratulates Cinnamon on winning the MAKE Award, biennial prize for innovation in Australian craft and design. "It feels especially meaningful given that I am now marking the 30th year of being a practising artist. So to have this recognition by the craft and design community is very special."Cinnamon reflects on her long relationship with the Australian Design Centre, dating back to her first exhibition as a student in 1995 at the Crafts Council of New South Wales Space in the Rocks, Sydney.[06:44] Noctua: the winning work Lisa asks about the meaning of Noctua, and Cinnamon explains it's the genus name for a cutworm, a type of nocturnal moth, with the Latin translation meaning Little Owl.The object is a hybrid creation – a slender standing lamp made of stainless steel, just over one and a half metres tall, with a cylindrical head containing the light source. But it holds secrets:"As well as being a lamp, it also contains a wearable brooch. So the wearable...
