Artist Statement 2026
Bridget Kennedy is an Australian Contemporary artist currently living and working in Sydney. With a background as a painter and contemporary jewellery, the use of diverse, non-precious and organic materials with traditionally precious materials in her exhibition work continues an ongoing enquiry into environmental fragility, impermanence, choice, social expectations and value. An emphasis on materials and exploration allows the physical act of making to partly drive the outcome. Bridget’s formative years of early childhood were spent in Fiji and the South Pacific. With cultural ties to the Philippines through her life partner, these influences and exchanges have informed her practice.
Website: www.bridgetkennedy.com.au
Instagram: @bridgetkennedy_projectspace
Facebook: bridgetkennedyprojectspace
Artist Biography
Bridget began her art studies in 1983 at City Art Institute, University of NSW (majoring in Painting). Circumstances resulted in a diversion to a corporate career before making the switch in 2003 back to pursuing her art practice full time. From 2003-2005 she undertook studies in an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery and Object Design at the Design Centre Enmore, and was the inaugural recipient of the Jewellery and Object Design Award (a one-year full-time residency). Bridget also holds a Trade Certificate in Jewellery Manufacture and in 2008 co-founded Studio 20/17, a contemporary jewellery gallery and workshop based in Waterloo, Sydney. For a number of years she was an active committee member of the Jewellers and Metalsmiths Group of Australia NSW, holding various roles of treasurer and secretary, and exhibitions and events coordinator of the 2015 JMGA conference held at Sydney College of the Arts.
Kennedy has participated in numerous exhibitions, both nationally and internationally (Thailand, New Zealand, USA, and Japan) and was a resident artist at Bundenon and Hill End, NSW. In 2015 she completed a coursework Masters in Studio Art at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. In 2017-2022 she ran Bridget Kennedy Project Space, located in North Sydney and is a founding member of The Repair Cafe Sydney North, and cofounder of The Sydney Library of Things. She is a second term local Government representative on Lane Cove Council, has been a board member on the World Crafts Council of Australia and the Australian Design Centre, and is the current President of Gallery Lane Cove.