TBI Q&A: Jeweller Julia deVille

It's an unusual career choice, but one that Julia deVille seems to have been destined for. Her love of animals and fascination with death led to an early interest in taxidermy, which she now combines with her skill as a jeweller to create "elegant macabre" pieces inspired by Memento Mori and Victorian mourning jewellery. "The game I would always play with my girlfriends in primary school was 'baby animals'," says the NZ-born, Melbourne-based jeweller, "so I think my whole childhood has directed me towards what I do."During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
There really isn't a time of the day. My schedule is very free, as I can't work structured hours. Sometimes I'll get up at 8am and start working before I have breakfast and other times I'll go to yoga in the morning or go to the city to get supplies before I start. I try to only work (on the creative side of things) when I am feeling inspired, otherwise it's a waste of time.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
I don't know, so I asked my best friend and her partner and they said "elegant macabre".

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?
Having solo exhibitions. I really love getting to make elaborate one-off pieces that are completely different to anything I've ever made before. The openings are amazing too because once I've spent months working on a show and days installing it - the best reward is to have hundreds of people turn up and tell you how much the love the work.

I also love making engagement and wedding rings. The idea that these people are going to wear my rings 'forever' (or at least that's how they feel at the time) is really beautiful.

How do you think your environment affects your work?
I've always had an interest in nature and animals and my work is obviously influenced by that. I live in the city so there are not as many animals around as I would like but I try to build an environment at home that represents nature. All my walls are covered in taxidermy and I have two (living) dogs that make me feel close to nature. I try to get out of the city as much as possible and there are lots of parks around were I live, which helps.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?
Both. I think I'm a jeweller because I am obsessed with the details. I studied fashion for a year at Massey and it wasn't focused enough, then I moved to Melbourne to study shoe design/making and still didn't feel satisfied. It wasn't until I discovered jewellery that I felt at home - it's like a tiny little world you can get lost in and every little diamond is so significant.

On the other hand I am always planning years in advance and have a very clear idea of where I want to go and how I want my business and practice to grow.

Taxidermy is an unusual career path - what about it interested you and how did you learn the trade?
I have always loved animals, as well has having a fascination for death from a very young age. I decided I wanted to learn taxidermy when I was 15 or 16 but couldn't find anyone to teach me in Wellington. When I moved to Melbourne at the age of 18 I met a retired taxidermist who offered to teach me. We have a very nice relationship and I visit him regularly. He must be in his 60s and sometime I feel like I get on better with him than people my own age.

Your work is inspired by the Memento Mori jewellery of the 15th-18th centuries. What ideas do they have to offer modern society?
In Memento Mori times they would wear the symbols of death, such as the skull and cross bones, to symbolise the brevity of life. They would also wear Memento Mori mottos like 'DISCE MORI' - learn to die (this is the name I work under) and 'MEMENTO MORI' - Remember you must die/ Remember Death. These symbols and mottos were used to remind the wearer of their own mortality and the need to prepare for death and their day of judgement before the Lord.

Personally, I have taken the part about remembering our mortality and interpreted it in a more modern way. I am not religious, but I feel it's important to be aware of one's own mortality to in turn appreciate life.

I think death can be a taboo in this society but I think it's a healthy thing to be familiar with.

What other materials do you enjoy working with?
I love jet (a petrified wood used in Victorian mourning jewellery) as well as human hair (also popular with the Victorians).

I also work in traditional jewellery materials like precious metals and gemstones. I prefer to go for less conventional cuts, such as uncut or rose cut diamonds, and often plate my gold black.

Lately I have been incorporating fabric and leather into my jewellery, glancing back to my brief careers as a fashion designer and shoemaker.

Has the way you played as a child influenced how you work as an adult?
Dad scuba dives as a hobby and always has. When I was little (before I became a vegetarian and interested in animal rights) I used to play with the crayfish and octopi that he would bring home.

Often when my parents went out for dinner I would wake up the next morning to find a box with a hedgehog in it. He would be my pet for the day and then we'd let him go. Once again, as I got older I decided this was cruel.

I also remember collecting snails and making elaborate houses for them and nursing sick birds back to health.

The game I would always play with my girlfriends in primary school was 'baby animals', so I think my whole childhood has directed me towards what I do.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) as an artist?
For me it has been having three lines of work; my one-off exhibition pieces that fetch very high prices, my high-end jewellery that is usually made from precious materials and stones but may be reproducible, and my production range which is normally silver and semi-precious stones and highly reproducible. This is not always appropriate in terms of pure art but as a jeweller it is an extremely normal practice.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?
Exhibiting in The Cicely and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award at the National Gallery of Victoria last year. It was such a great experience to exhibit at such an important gallery along side some of my favourite Australian jewellers and to make pieces without the intention of selling them.

Who or what has inspired you recently?
At the moment I am inspired by anatomy and skeletons. I am in the process of casting entire animal skeletons in silver and then re-articulating them. It's amazing, these delicate yet sturdy structures that lie within living creatures.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?
I would be a scientist. In fact, I always did better at science at school than I did at art and design. I have this little dream of growing endangered animal fur and leather without using animals, kind of in the same way they can grow a football field of human skin for skin grafts, from one foreskin!

What place is always with you, wherever you go?
My mum.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?
When you're exercising, because it actually makes it enjoyable (the exercise).

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?
I would shave the stick into wooden wool, hope that the fabric could be the hide of a mouse and stuff it and sew it back up with the string.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?
I am a highly strung person - the only thing I've found to relieve my stress is a two hour yoga class!

What's great about today?
Today is great because it's sunny and I'm going to walk into the city with my little dogs. We go through the park on the way in and I let them off the lead. They chase each other round in circles and look like lions in the African planes hunting their prey. Nothing else gives me the feeling I get when I watch them!

Interview by Cass Hesom-Williams

9/10/07

Memento Mori
An exhibition of Julia deVille's jewellery is on at TheNewDowse until 27 March 2008.