Collection: Erwin Rohrl

Prior to migrating from Germany to Australia 20 years ago. Erwin was creating collages with found objects. He carried a small box of ‘treasures’ with hi, in his travels such as small watch parts, mother-of-pearl buttons, broken antique jewellery and small discarded objects.

These precious objects, along with the influence of a dressmaker grandmother, became his inspiration to make jewellery. It became the ‘alchemist dream, the transmutation of base substances into gold.’ This was a mythical quest to convert ordinary found objects to something precious.

Following on from his first exhibitions in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s there was the inspiration to integrate a love of pottery into the works. As Erwin began collecting old prints, magazines and sheet music, the beginning of ‘wearable poetry’ was born. Words, forms, patters, street directories, and scripts were set behind individually cut pieces of class to form miniature mosaics with cryptic content. ‘Wearable poetry’ became the title of Erwin’s next exhibition in 1995.

The glass mosaics for necklaces brooches, tiepins, and cufflinks are set in silver. The earrings comprise a variety of materials to work around the mosaics, which include the links of watchbands, antique jewellery, guitar strings, and chains. They are all set in resin on a brass frame, finished with resin and mixed with colour pigments.