ADHD, limited sleep and Coke Zero: What fuels artist Emma Addams

Shortly after Emma Addams agreed to become the subject of a documentary film, she was diagnosed with ADHD.

“I have about 17 browser windows open in my mind right now,” says the Melbourne artist, whose unisex jewellery brand, Heart of Bone, has been championed by the likes of Billie Eilish, Billy Idol and Jean Paul Gaultier.

“It would have been nice to have known about it earlier. I’ve seen other people with ADHD write books to help their partners understand that we’re not purposely leaving cupboard doors open or being immature by prioritising weeding the garden over getting our paperwork done. It’s just that our brains are wired differently. I can create the most amazing things but can I do my filing? No.”

She takes a swig of Coke Zero: a caffeinated beverage that fuels the all-nighters she pulls in her warehouse studio.

Emma Addams: “As women, we can be really hard on ourselves because we’re expected to perform so many different roles.”Credit: Wayne Taylor

“I was totally addicted to Diet Coke since I was 13, then Coke Zero when that came out,” says Addams, 48, who cuts a striking figure in black leather pants and platform boots, dagger-shaped earrings, claret-coloured lipstick and several silver rings, including two of her famous “bunny skull” designs. “I tried ADHD medication, but it doesn’t really help with my creativity so I’ve had to find other ways to manage it, like meditation.”

Inside her studio, Addams sits at an antique dining table, which she painted black. To her left is a red couch resembling a pair of lips; behind her, a black bookshelf bearing titles about poetry, art and Chinese horoscopes and a red bar fridge stocked with Coke Zero.

On the other side of the table is rising documentary maker Grace Anna Cardona, 32. In 2019, Cardona emailed Addams – whom she had never met – to ask if she could make a film about her. The result is Born to Hustle, which has already been named best short documentary at two film festivals in Sydney and one in Utah. It premieres in Melbourne, as part of the St Kilda Film Festival’s Moving Portraits session, on June 9.

“Some directors have a really clear vision of what they want going in, whereas I’m the opposite,” says Cardona, who also runs a wedding video business. “I like to point the camera, shoot and then find the story in the edit.”

This is why she opted for a run time of 26 minutes, despite obtaining mountains of footage over 3½ years (COVID interruptions notwithstanding). Stylistically, her film reflects its subject perfectly, with its caffeinated pace and rock video aesthetic.

“Most filmmakers would have music composed during the edit, whereas I get the music first and then cut the story to it,” Cardona explains. “There are 21 songs in 26 minutes because sound is everything to me and I want the music to feel like another layer of the story.”

‘Failure should not be a death sentence but a diagnosis, which can help give you direction.’

Emma Addams

At one point in the film, Addams observes that people sometimes take her the wrong way, pegging her as hard-natured. But in person, one of the first things you notice is her tendency to smile with her eyes. She’s terrific company; both interesting and interested in others.

“I can be this incredibly feminine caregiver who just wants to be loving and make the world a better place,” she says. “But as women, we can be really hard on ourselves because we’re expected to perform so many different roles.”

Born and raised in Melbourne, Addams was studying to become an archeologist until she was headhunted by an antiques dealer for her restoration skills. Eventually, she opened her own restoration atelier, and then became the buyer and creative director of the Husk fashion stores. (She and her ex-husband, former Husk owner Justin Abrahams, were together for 17 years and have a son and a daughter.)

In 2012, Addams – who took her current surname in honour of Morticia Addams – enrolled in a jewellery-making course. Her goal was to design a range of “rock ’n roll cutlery” featuring snakes and skulls but in the first class, she became enthralled by the process of making rings, which she carves with an unorthodox array of implements such as dental picks.

Almost immediately, her playfully macabre designs attracted attention – especially her statement rings. Some feature skulls adorned with bunny ears or Carmen Miranda’s fruit hat; others carry oversized scorpions, serpents and skeletons.

Addams in 2016 showcasing her jewellery for an exhibition.Credit: Wayne Taylor

At a hotel breakfast bar in Los Angeles, designer Marc Jacobs complimented Addams on her pieces and within a few years, she’d built an international cult following.

One of her biggest fans was a then 15-year-old musician from California named Billie Eilish. They clicked immediately. “She’s a really cool, genuine chick,” Addams says.

A couple of years later, Eilish’s debut studio album topped the charts in more than 20 countries. When she graced the covers of Vogue and Rolling Stone, she was dripping in Heart of Bone jewellery, triggering huge interest in the brand. Addams began hiring staff and often worked through the night while her children slept. There was a partnership with David Jones, while AC/DC commissioned her to make a limited collection of pieces including rings and lightning bolt studs. Miley Cyrus, Courtney Love, Dita Von Teese, Karl Lagerfeld and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash are among the high-profile celebrities who have worn her creations.

As Born to Hustle makes clear, Addams worked long hours at a frenetic pace to build her business. But the film is not a paean to so-called “hustle culture”, an individualistic ideology that venerates career achievement above all else.

“We’re all good at some things and not so good at others, which is why we’ve evolved to live in tribal communities,” Addams says. “Except we’re not doing that these days. We think we’re closer because of social media, but it’s bullshit.”

Indeed, what Cardona saw in Addams are traits the filmmaker also possesses: intelligence, thoughtfulness, tenaciousness and a creativity bolstered by an “all you can do is try” ethos.

“Either you believe in yourself and back yourself, or you miss out on what you could have gotten because you were too scared to ask,” Addams says. “I say to my kids that on the other side of fear is everything you ever wanted. And failure should not be a death sentence but a diagnosis, which can help give you direction.”

Painting the roses red: In 2003, Addams took inspiration from the film Alice in Wonderland to showcase a range of pots she had made.Credit: Marina Oliphant

Recently, Addams took a much-needed break from Heart of Bone. “I love my brand,” she says, “and I want to have a think about what I do with it next.”

Meanwhile, she’s creating a tarot deck with her best friend, psychotherapist Tahli Rockman, while also working on a visual art project: a collection of statements, created with the help of a personalised astrology app, which she renders into paintings. “You are not an open wound,” one declares. “Certain types of pain are clarifying in their sharpness,” reads another.

“This is like walking into my brain; into the dark shadow lands of my unconscious,” Addams says, pointing at the designs she has displayed in her studio. “It’s taken a while, but I think the universe has a plan for me. As I said in the documentary, I’m not done yet.”

Born to Hustle screens at 2.30pm on June 9 as part of the Moving Portraits session in the St Kilda Film Festival, which runs from June 5 to 15. stkildafilmfestival.com.au

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