Valerie Aked

Valerie Aked has been a silversmith since 1969. She attended the Walraven Van Heeckeren School of silversmiths in Sydney, NSW, until 1976, and from 1971 to 1978 was a partner in the Argyle Silversmiths Studio Shop at The Rocks in Sydney, a place central to the emerging recognition of the high standard of Australian arts and crafts. Since the late 1970s Val has participated in many Master workshops with visiting artists.

Valerie has exhibited individually and in group exhibitions throughout Australia and Asia as well as Japan, Canada, Germany, and the USA. Among her more recent solo exhibitions are “Elements, Kyoto Kakadu-2002” at the Japan Cultural Centre, North Sydney, “the Edge of Reality” at the Queen Street Fine Arts Gallery, Woollahra (Sydney) and the Victorian Artists Gallery in 1998 and 1999. Her work is represented in the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, The Australian National Gallery, Canberra, The Society of Arts and Crafts, NSW, The Rocks, Sydney, and Australian Image, The Rocks, Sydney.

Her work has also been featured in publications such as Craft Arts International magazine and “Contemporary Jewellry in Australia and New Zealand” by Patricia Anderson, 1999.

Val has taught at many levels since 1980 at the Society of Arts and Crafts, the Enmore College of jewellery design, The McGregor Summer School (Old), and at her own Silver Studio and workshops in Sydney. Many world-renowned artists from Asia, the Americans and other parts of Australia conduct workshops at her studio.