In the Fire Zone: How to Cook a Knife

Australian Design Centre plays a critical role in celebrating the work of Australian artists who embrace the highest degree of skill and who continually explore material, process and ideas to advance contemporary craft and design practice.

Object Space is a window gallery located in the window of the Australian Design Centre HQ on William Street in Darlinghurst. The exhibition space has direct street frontage, is accessible to view 24 hours a day and is lit for viewing at night.

26 March – 27 May 2020

Following an Australian summer dominated by bushfires, Dianne Beevers’ HOW TO COOK A KNIFE reminds us that fire is still a valuable element. Both cooking and knifemaking share the medium of fire, a love of tools, and the food produced by both.

As part of her speculative design practice, Dianne reflects on what might happen if people learnt how to make their own domestic tools; the knife, fork, spoon, chopsticks, bowl and drinking vessels. This exhibition reveals her first accomplishments in knifemaking, two Damascus kitchen knives that are the outcome of two weekend workshops led by blacksmith, Nick Hackett. 

Fire is essential in knifemaking, whether forging metal for the blade with a traditional coke or contemporary gas fire. 

These knives represent a beginner’s journey in the field of knifemaking – a practice Dianne is keen to build on.

About Dianne Beevers

Currently Newcastle based, Dianne also often works in Melbourne, where teaching in jewellery, furniture design and public art supported her practice as a designer-maker following her fine art training in Newcastle. Transitioning from two to three dimensions is an underlying thread in her practice as Dianne pursued skills via masterclasses, an Advanced Diploma in Visual Arts - Furniture Design, and to follow a Masters in Art - Art in Public Space at RMIT University.

Dianne’s metalwork production includes wearable objects, jewellery, sculpture, blacksmithing, and most recently knifemaking - where utility is equally concerned with aesthetic, and the metal blade with the timber handle draws upon her earlier training with wood. Sustainability and recycling materials has been central to Dianne’s practice for two decades. She consciously limits her production to periodic one offs or small batches. Object drawing occurs post-production, rather than commencing with drafts. Dianne begins with the materials, designing and making.

An active exhibitor, Dianne’s most recent exhibitions (2019 -2020) include jewellery, objects and sculptures, for MasterMakers - RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Profile 19 (JMGA NSW) Australian Design Centre, Sydney and in Summer Exhibition at Newcastle’s Curve Gallery.

Dianne is the winner of the Australian Design Centre Award for Profile 19.

Top Image: Dianne Beevers, Damascus Knife, 2019 Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Bottom Image: Dianne Beevers, Hardening by Quenching the Blade, 2019 Photo: Courtesy of the artist