Bridget Kennedy

Established

This breastplate was made for a young eco-warrior woman who stands firm against the might of our corporate and political ‘leaders’. Bridget Kennedy started making this work whilst visiting a mountain village of the Philippines, surrounded by unseasonal forest fires, watching villagers carry bought water home on their shoulders because their local springs had run dry. The roughness of saw marks, file marks and scratches have been left intentionally (fighting the urge to smooth) to reflect the connection between hand, maker and humanity, whilst still leaving references of the original silky smoothness of the original mass produced bowls. 

Bridget is an Australian contemporary artist currently living and working in Sydney. With a background in painting and contemporary jewellery, more recent projects have explored participatory installations and the viewer as participant to activate the artwork. Other projects incorporating community activation continue an ongoing enquiry into environmental fragility, materiality, impermanence, choice, value and exchange. 

Image: Bridget Kennedy, A Breastplate for Greta (as the seas rise, the tides turn), 2019. Photo courtesy of the artist.