Bisou, brooch
(2010)
Medium
pigmented porcelain, silver, steel
Measurements
4.4 × 2.2 × 2.4 cm
Credit Line
Gift of Suzy Cato-Gashler, 2025
© Manon van Kouswijk
Gallery location
Intrafilament 10 - between G18 and G19
Level 3, NGV Australia
About this work
Manon van Kouswijk’s work explores and translates
archetypal jewellery forms and motifs through a range
of materials and processes. Shaped like a pair of
puckered lips, this brooch playfully evokes the gesture
of a kiss, or bisou in French. Coated in a glossy-red
glaze, the brooch references both the language of
affection and the stylised aesthetics of pop culture.
Characteristic of van Kouswijk’s practice, this work
engages with the history of jewellery as a form of
symbolic communication, subverting conventional
motifs and sentimental tropes with a wry and
conceptual sensibility.