Inventive, fresh and energetic are the key notes of this exhibition by young artists Sean O'Connell and Nick Bastin. Both artists have professional practices. O'Connell who now lives and works at Bundeena near Sydney studied gold and silversmithing at the ANU School of Art. Since graduating he has exhibited widely, winning many prestigious grants, scholarships and awards. Among these awards was the International Craft exhibition Itami Award, Museum of the Arts, Itami, Japan in 2009. His winning bracelet with its beautifully constructed articulated sections crafted with engineering precision would have been in tune with the Japanese aesthetic of fine craftsmanship.

Nick Bastin lives and works in Melbourne. He has a doctorate from RMIT in Melbourne where he also lectures in the RMIT School of Art. Bastin too is the recipient of many awards and indeed shares with O'Connell a link with Japan. In 2004 he travelled to Tokyo as a recipient of an Australian Council of the Arts, studio residency. One of the works in this exhibition is a reminder of that experience. The work called Mint Packet with Secret Road Brooch is an original plastic mint box that opens up to reveal a miniature rendition of a cobbled Japanese road complete with a "detritus" of gemstones!

O'Connell is interested in investigating the unique properties of the materials that he works with in partnership with the making process. The artist is also attracted to the concept of movement in his work – either through the energy inherent in the materials he uses, or created through the way his work is constructed. A good example of the latter is the collection of rings each one made from a different kind of material – some of which are integral to the jeweller's craft and others whose inclusion is more unusual. Among the common materials are bone, stainless steel, ebony, copper, horn and wood. Others are less familiar and include meteorite (gibeon), mokume gane (TiZr), tantalum and human hair. Human hair may seem an odd inclusion but of course human hair has been used in most cultures for human adornment most notably in mourning jewellery in the Victorian era. These simple band rings are refined and unadorned. Their special qualities come from the skill of their fabrication and the textures of the materials used. This is their outer and visible characteristic.

However, all the rings have an inner energy which the artist reveals by passing an electric current through each of the rings and recording the pattern of sparks they generate as an individual print. The results are beautiful images that are highly individual to each ring. Tantalum for example has a band of energy around the ring itself like a satellite and in other examples like human hair the energy fans out in delicate sprig-like traceries.

In another series in polished stainless steel (the Balltrack rings), the energy and movement are concealed within the ring itself. An interior track inside the inner band of the ring holds small ball bearings that create a sense of movement within the ring. This perhaps is a more contemporary take on the idea of twisting the ring on one's finger!

Other works include necklaces and bracelets where the articulation of the parts that make up these works reinforces the artist's interest in movement. Uni- joint works are mostly made in metal or resin but a particularly beautiful work is the necklace and bracelet made from blackened wood that twists like a snake yet when worn fits sensuously on the body.

Nick Bastin makes works that are assemblages of different materials such as found objects, plastic, metal and precious and synthetic stones. There is a quirkiness to the way Bastin approaches his work. The titles he gives to his work have a cheeky irreverence that dispels any pomposity attached to precious jewellery. However when one sees past this quirkiness, there is an historical basis for Bastin's work. In the past jewellery was often made from collected objects. It has been quite a traditional practice to adorn and enhance large irregularly shaped pearls or uncut precious stones with other stones and objects somewhat like Bastin does in his work called Silver leak. Likewise, his oval framed brooches – Small Black Frame (with temporal leak) and Golden Frame#2 – have a cameo-like appearance. Animal brooches also were in great vogue in the last two centuries so Bastin's Styrofoam Elk brooch and the Wooden Tiger Roach neckpiece have a firm foot in history. However to find a family pedigree for the Fragment of Lettuce pendant and the Prosciutto brooch is perhaps more of a challenge. Bastin's concept of creating through his jewellery a "framework" between reality and imagination has led to the idea of wormholes that he fills up with precious and semi-precious stones. These wormholes indicate the deep figurative black hole – rather like the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland. A piece of fantasy by the artist that you may find rather too whimsical.

Bastin's works are really a small collection of sculptures that happen to be able to be worn as jewellery. It is currently the trend to make jewellery from found objects or recycled materials. However, a lot of this jewellery is not like these works by Bastin, underpinned by good craftsmanship. Bastin's interest in past historic mores and styles also brings a richness to these works that have their own identity and integrity. In fact along with his Blue with Yellow Ear brooch, the Fragment of Lettuce pendant is one of my favourites.