BODE WELL
24–29 October 2026
HOURS
Sat. 11am–4pm
Mon.–Thu. 11am–6pm
5 Nicholson Street, Brunswick East 3057
Bode Well brings together the seven jewellers of Fortunae Jewellery Studio in a collective exhibition exploring objects that carry good will and intention.
The title draws on an older sense of the phrase, to bode well, signalling that something favourable may unfold. Small objects have long been made and exchanged to mark connection, offer protection, and carry good wishes between people.
Jewellery sits at the centre of this tradition. Worn close to the body, it holds the intention of the maker and the meaning of the relationship from which it came, or that to come.
For this project, each maker began by gifting a small object to a fellow studio member as a gesture of good will and a catalyst for making. The works that follow carry that spirit forward, each distinct in voice and the hand, but gathered here as a collective offering.
The Fortunae Jewellery Studio, celebrating 10 years, 2016–2026
Part of Radiant Pavilion 2026,
Naarm / Melbourne, Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennial
Exhibition co-ordinated by Karla Way
Generously supported by Sara Stone, Pizzini Wines, Rocky Ridge Brewing Co, Remedy Drinks & Mateo Soda.
Logo and window motif design by Lea Wearne
Photography by Heather Lighton & Daniel Aulsebrook.
Florals by Pomp & Splendour.
Paris Fontana Born from a gift of obsidian whose concealed cross became a symbol of passage and protection, this body of work draws from Edwardian jewellery and Victorian mourning—the lustre of pearls, the delicacy of lace, the enduring form of the crucifix. Guided by ritual, romance, and the occult symbolism of the tarot, the pieces act as wearable reliquaries and memento mori, made to adorn with, carry Spirit, and bode well.
Naasicaa Jade Larsen The day my Bestamore died (dad’s mother), I was carrying the silver spoon she had gifted me as a baby. As a child I was sure that it had a ruby set in its hilt, it seemed like a mythical object of luxury and protection. This object travelled through life with me and in my hand it is a link to her. As small objects often do, it holds meaning beyond its form. My four Bode Well objects are symbols of my grandparents tidings for me : Wisdom, Play, Beauty, Intention
Emma Megannety These jewels are shaped by rituals of gifting and by the women who taught me what they mean. My mum, my aunts and I have built our own traditions of giving, from sea swims and tea on the beach to the seaweed baths in Strandhill, Co. Sligo. These pieces draw their form from the soft air pockets of knotted wrack, a seaweed of Ireland’s northwest coast. Gentle, buoyant and protective, they are a tribute to the women I love.
Fiona Simmons It all starts with cats. One Maneki-Neko, travel-sized for the car, raises its left paw to invite good relationships. Another, made by Naasicaa in the likeness of my cat Chino, raises its right paw for prosperity, its note wishing me abundance in all its forms. Abundance led me to the Satin Bowerbird, a fellow collector of small blue things. Micro mosaic is laborious and fussy, but meditative. For the first time, I made a ring for myself: a nest of gold holding a bi-colour yellow sapphire, diamonds and one hidden blue sapphire, as the Bowerbird adorns his bower.
Julia Storey This collection began with a gift: a pearl shell from Karla, holding four blister pearls set by nature into its wall, some nestling in, others caught mid-escape. Four, like my family. For this work I turned to twin pearls, collected over years for their unusual forms. Each pair grew together inside the shell, merged yet still defined, blurring where one ends and the next begins. The comet became my guide, with sapphires holding its depth so the pearls glow against them. Luminous forms reflecting one another, they speak of lives that intersect and shine brighter for it
Kim Victoria Fiona’s gift was a mosaic key, with a note about the spaces I have helped shape for loved ones. It spurred notions of interiority, and most of these rings have literal interior chambers. Each piece grows outward from the stone, sketched granule by granule in three dimensions, then carved, engraved and traced by hand once cast. The Iridel ring conceals a cubic zirconia chosen for its refraction. Lift it to your eye and the room sparkles with rainbows. A small moment of wonder.
Karla Way Beginning with a gift from Kim, a deck of Minchiate Fiorentine cards, a joyous throwback to learning engraving in Florence. Its suit of cups prompted me to revisit the concept of jewellery as vessel. Certain cards became companions at the bench, materialising as vessels for how we carry, keep, let go and call back the people and places we love.