Cinnamon Lee: 30 Years of Precision and Poetry | Courtesy of the Artist
‘Singular’ is a term that gets used often these days, but when it comes to Cinnamon Lee, it feels truly apt.
Her work occupies a rare space: both technically exacting yet conceptually expressive and deeply human. These qualities shine brightly in both her jewellery- and lighting-based pieces, earning her the top prize in the prestigious MAKE Award last month.
In the lead-up to our upcoming exhibition Pressure & Time, and in conjunction with the 30-year anniversary of her practice, we paid a visit to Cinnamon at her studio. Together with our co-founder Nina Cueva, we talked endurance, recognition, the evolution of her craft...and her exciting new work to be unveiled at opening night.
1. Firstly, congrats again on your win of the MAKE Award! How does it feel after exactly 30 years of making jewellery, to earn this sort of recognition?
It’s a huge honour to have my work recognised by my peers and the wider craft community through this award. It feels especially meaningful this year, as I reflect on the past three decades and how deeply grateful I am to all the people who have shaped me and my practice — the teachers, mentors, students, makers, curators, collectors and critics. Each has played a vital role in determining my path as a designer and metalsmith.
2. Your work has always evolved, yet remained unmistakably yours. Can you talk us through the different creative phases, or ideas that have occupied your practice? What keeps you experimenting as a maker?
Enrolling in the Jewellery and Object Design program at Enmore TAFE in 1995 (age 17), felt like stepping into a wonderland - a smorgasbord of techniques, processes and possibilities. It was there that I found my medium and realising that working with metal meant I could literally make anything was a revelation. My interest in lighting began with my final assignment for that course, where I was struck by the transformative potential of light: how it could alter an object and its environment, and imbue inanimate objects with a sense of life.
My move to Canberra in 1999 saw the next decade exploring this theme as an undergraduate and postgraduate in the Gold and Silversmithing Workshop at the Canberra School of Art (later the ANU School of Art). Early works featured illuminated objects brought to life using sensors, such as touch-sensitive and heat-activated switching, and later, more complex interactive systems using custom-built electronics and programmable lighting effects. This work was underpinned by research into the cultural history of electricity and artificial light at a time when solid-state electronics was literally changing the light bulb. While this technology can now almost be considered "old tech," at the time, this experimental work was quite cutting-edge!
Simultaneously, while studying I was introduced to 3D modelling software and early FDM (Fusion Deposition Modelling) rapid prototyping. While the default FDM material was a translucent white plastic, ideal for incorporating into my work with light, eventually the introduction of high resolution, small-scale wax printing equipment led me to explore new avenues for precious metal jewellery. I became seduced by the ability to create super-fine, accurate detail that could be replicated into precious metal via the lost wax casting method. With first hand access to this equipment at ANU, I pushed the limits of this process to create intricate, lattice-like structures, primarily in the form of finger rings.
When I returned to Sydney in 2010, I had to adapt to the reality of sustaining a full-time, self-employed practice. Joining Nina and Cesar Cueva full-time at Metalab Studio (which evolved into Courtesy of the Artist), I shifted my primary focus to jewellery - exploring themes of secrecy and complexity through the precision of 3D modelling, wax printing, and casting in silver and gold, and later also titanium via the process of SLM (Selective Laser Melting).
Cinnamon with co-founder Cesar Cueva & resident canine Esteban at Metalab.
Working with Nina and Cesar introduced me to the custom jewellery market. Custom jewellery commissions are inherently personal, and I found myself engaging with new ideas about preciousness, value, sentiment, symbolism, and the meanings behind what make a wearable object truly significant to someone. This commission work inspired two key solo exhibitions Promises (2013) and Tough Love (2014), which subsequently fed back into my studio work and remain relevant to my practice today.
For me, making is essentially problem solving. Whether it is solving a technical problem or resolving a conceptual idea, experimentation is a constant part of the process. Originality has always been key to my motivation, so inspiration comes from continuously seeking to discover new ways of doing, seeing and creating.
3. In regards to your upcoming exhibition with Co_ta, what will you be showcasing? Is there an idea or theme that connects the work?
For Pressure & Time, I’m expanding on collections developed exclusively for Courtesy of the Artist, featuring new South Sea Keshi pearls, blood red Northern Territory garnets, and of course more of Nina’s stunning Australian sapphires. These works continue a thematic exploration of capture - each gem or pearl is held within precisely sculpted metal components and secured using gold rivets. A defining feature of these pieces is their generous use of metal. I enjoy working with quite bold, substantial settings that celebrate materiality by giving equal weight to both the gem and its metal housing.
4. Tell us about your choice of materials. Why pearls again, and what draws you to them — especially these particular types?
Unlike most of the gemstones I use, which are cut and polished into precise geometric forms, Keshi pearls (a by-product of cultured pearling) grow into their own unique shapes, formed entirely of solid nacre - making each one absolutely individual. There’s something very appealing about their organic irregularity. For this collection I’ve even chosen a few that resemble hearts!
Pieces from previous Pearl Trap collection.
5. Pearls seem to invite a different kind of sensitivity from the maker: less cutting, more 'protecting'. How does working with them change your mindset?
I don’t manipulate the Keshi pearls themselves — they remain exactly as they have grown, but because they are inherently softer, they do require greater care in handling and setting.
My approach avoids the standard drilling and gluing methods. Instead, I use precisely sculpted metal ‘traps’ that when riveted together, hold each pearl in place. This preserves the integrity of each pearl so that they remain intact and unadulterated.
In this new collection, I’m exploring the interplay between the metal and the lustrous forms. The settings feature fluid-like gold beams or straps that hold the pearls in place creating tension between structure and softness.
6. Your work often straddles art, design, and technology. How do those worlds speak to each other in your studio?
They’re completely intertwined. Design defines the intention - the "what" and the "why". Technology provides the "how" - whether it’s a needle file or an LED; and the art is the result - the outcome of me being the one making it. There’s no hierarchy or separation between them, they exist simultaneously, feeding into each other throughout the creative process.
7. After thirty years at the bench, what still surprises you about making?
That it never gets old. There’s always something new to discover, to solve…to make.
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