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SYDNEY - After years working behind the scenes supporting her rockstar husband Neil Finn, Sharon Finn is stepping into the spotlight to launch her first exhibition of unashamedly "girly" artworks.
The Gilded Cage, which opens today at Simmer on the Bay in Sydney's Walsh Bay, is a collection
of stunning chandeliers, detailed jewellery and decorated female forms.
It is the culmination of a year and a half of work by the rockstar wife, who operates out of a showroom in Auckland.
Finn said her first exhibition came about at the encouragement of her good friends, singer Jenny Morris and Jane Barnes, wife of rocker Jimmy Barnes.
"I've always been in the background, which is fine by me," Finn said.
"But last year I got to a point where you need to put yourself out there.
"It's because of my girlfriends - they're just so amazing, and they've just encouraged me the whole way, and they've got the faith, and I think that's what you need to take risks."
Finn started out designing lighting for Split Enz and Crowded House concerts before turning it into her own creative outlet.
"I've got into it by doing up some old chandeliers for a Finn Brothers show and it built from there really," she said.
"Chandeliers got really accessible to everybody and they're really popular, and everybody wants something unique, so I thought I'd push it left of centre and do something different.
"And then the last (Crowded House) tour I didn't have anything to do with, because this has taken over really."
The collection of 36 pieces celebrates the feminine, featuring fantastical crystal chandeliers and busts embellished with clocks, birds and buttons.
"It's just so girly, and I'm such not a girl, living in a male-dominated house and a male-dominated world in a way," she said.
"The mannequins and birdcages offered a skeleton on which I could apply a skin of fancy and imagination."
Ranging in price from $5000 to $26,900, Finn's works can be found in the homes of Kate Hudson, Jimmy Barnes, Jenny Morris, and, not surprisingly, the home she and Neil share.
"I like chandeliers in the bathroom, so you can lie in the bath and look up," Finn laughed.
"Actually we've got a really crappy one in the bathroom at the moment, to tell you the truth."
Finn said her creative family, including musician sons Liam and Elroy, are a big inspiration to her.
"We really respect each other's work and support each other," she said.
- AAP
