A family of creative individuals has come together to launch Malki Studio, an artistic jewellery business based in Bargara.
Ariella Anderson, along with her son Adam and daughter Lia, have merged their skills and experience to create the unique range of jewellery.
Inspired by love, the name Malki has come from Rachel Arlette Malki and Guy David Malki, Ariella’s mother and father, who have been together for more than 70 years.
Ariella said the support from the Bundaberg community had made launching Malki Studio in the region a success.
“The best thing about launching Malki Studio in the Bundaberg Region is the overwhelming support of Bundaberg’s art community,” Ariella said.
“Having been active members of this community since we immigrated here from Israel in 1998, we feel like this region and its many cultural workers have championed us and valued our storytelling, which we do through our artwork.
“Being embedded in the Bundaberg Region has also meant that we’ve been empowered to contribute back to our community through events like International Women’s Day, which was hosted by the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery.”
The pieces themselves are more than just jewellery, according to Ariella, who said they aimed to positively influence how a person thought and felt about themselves.
Ariella said making unique handmade jewellery for Malki Studio was a creative but laborious process, with the majority of their pieces quite complex.
“Some of our simplest pieces may take only several hours to make, but the vast majority of what we do is anything but simple,” she said.
“Rings cast from wax moulds can take several days or even weeks to make in wax and then it takes several more days or longer to shape, solder, sand, and polish the metal.
“Only once all that is done can you finally start setting stones or adding patinas.
“Our most sculptural pieces, particularly those made with ceramics, can take hundreds of hours of work, as clay is sculpted, dried, fired, often more than once, treated, and assembled together with metals and gemstones.
“There is also the lengthy process of researching, planning, and drafting pieces, experimentation, and post-production documentation that needs to be factored into each piece.”
Malki Studio brings together creative experience
Ariella, Lia and Adam all have their own extensive background in the art industry.
Ariella has a Diploma of Visual Arts and over twenty years of experience in ceramic sculpture with her work being commissioned for resorts, private and public collections, public artworks and schools.
Lia has a Bachelor of Applied Science as well as a Bachelor of Design, specialising in product design.
Her fusion of creative and analytical thinking has enabled Lia to design and make a variety of objects—such as laser cut furniture, innovative light fixtures, sculptural objects, computer modelled and 3D printed jewellery.
Adam holds a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) as well as a Bachelor of Fine Art with first class Honours and his practice incorporates painting, drawing, performance art, photography, projection, video and animation, makeup, costumery, and the production of
various wearable objects.
The online shop is live and can be found here.
There are also a selection of pieces stocked in the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery and Childers Art Space shops.
You can find out more about Malki Studio on their website.
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