Zoë Veness is an artist, designer and educator specialising in contemporary jewellery and object design. She holds a Diploma of Dance from the Australian Ballet School, Naarm (Melbourne), and a Bachelor of Design, Master of Design (Research) and Doctor of Philosophy from UNSW Art & Design.

Zoë’s research-led creative practice examines aesthetics of time through craft-based methodologies, framed by ideas of movement, materiality and place. Drawing on her background in classical ballet, her work adopts a deliberately dichotomous approach to making, oscillating between experimental and systematic processes across paper and metal media. Her practice operates at the intersection of contemporary craft, design research and material inquiry.

Her work has been supported through prestigious international and national artist residencies, including Edinburgh College of Art (2006) and Bundanon (2010). Zoë has developed ten solo exhibitions, including Still Point (Gallery Funaki), The Stream of Time (Woollahra Gallery), New Terrain in an Old World (Craft + Design Canberra), The Infinite Fold (JamFactory) and Mathematical Beauty (Australian Design Centre). She has participated in over forty national and international exhibitions and was awarded the winning prize in the 2023 Contemporary Wearables Biennial Jewellery Award Exhibition.

Zoë is currently a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council–funded Linkage Project exploring sustainable approaches to repurposing textile waste into contemporary jewellery and objects. Her work is held in significant national and international public collections, including the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris), the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery and Griffith Regional Art Gallery.

Zoë joined UNSW Art & Design in 2018 and has held senior academic leadership roles including Deputy Head of School (Design), Director of the Bachelor of Design and Master of Design programs (2022–2024), and Director of Education (2021–2022). She was Academic Lead for the Object disciplinary studio, where she led curriculum development in jewellery and ceramics for the Bachelor of Design, contributing to the institution’s contemporary object design pedagogy.

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