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Jan Donaldson’s artworks explore link between object and identity

By Contributed

Sep 3, 2025

The Poetry of Voice by Jan Donaldson is one of many intricate pieces on display in Benalla.

Contemporary jewellery and small sculptures by Jan Donaldson are currently featured in a Benalla Art Gallery exhibition titled Objects of Being.

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The Gallery Shop exhibition explores identity through artefacts.

Using form, image and symbol, the works investigate the intimate and often uncanny relationship between object and self.

Drawing on the theatricality of dolls, puppetry and masks, the works engage with beauty, illusion and the human condition.

Ms Donaldson said her work was inspired by the relationships between artefacts and identity.

“(They) explore objects intimately linked to identity (and) allude to the drama and folly of human existence,” she said.

Each piece is a narrative, blending the emotional with the symbolic to offer a compelling reflection on identity, desire and the roles we inhabit.

Ms Donaldson’s studio practice is based in Shepparton.

She studied at RMIT University in Melbourne and holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Art, a Master of Art and a Diploma of Fine Art in Gold and Silversmithing.

Ms Donaldson exhibits regularly and her work ranges in scale from jewellery to large sculptural works.

She is known for her use of the figure and text, as well as for her research into the relationships between objects and identity.

Ms Donaldson has been lecturing for over 30 years in regional Victoria and Melbourne, is a former president of the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia and is a past editor of Lemel Magazine, the quarterly journal of the JMGA.

She has been an artist in residence and workshop instructor at numerous schools, universities, community groups, arts organisations and galleries, and is a former gallery director with extensive experience working on community arts projects.

Benalla Art Gallery director Eric Nash said Ms Donaldson’s practice was prolific.

“(It’s) deeply personal with a universal resonance,” Mr Nash said.

“It’s a privilege to display these works at Benalla Art Gallery.”

Jan Donaldson: Objects of Being will be on display until September 28.

All works in the Gallery Shop are available for purchase directly from Benalla Art Gallery, or by contacting the gallery on 5760 2619 or via gallery@benalla.vic.gov.au.