Dear Contemporary Jewellery …

Zoe Brand writes a regular column ‘Brandlandia’ for a NZ jewellers newsletter ‘Overview’.

In this issue she wrote a love letter to Contemporary Jewellery (CJ):

“I’ve been thinking lately, what is this thing that has become my life. I wanted to write it a quick note just to let it know how much it means to me. I though a love letter would be a lovely vehicle in which to express freely and informally my relationship with it, or what I more affectionately call it: CJ (aka contemporary jewellery).

Dearest CJ
Thanks for being the reason I jump out of bed in the morning!
Thanks for being the reason that I look for the edge and want to push past it.
Thanks for being the reason that I have so many BFF’s!
Thanks for being the reason I am I hardly content by just ‘pretty’ things.
Thanks for being the reason I am, who I am.
So much love, now and forever
ZB“

As she writes, she also “asked some of my good friends to drop a line to their lovers.“

This was my love letter … it took less than a minute to write and I was genuinely surprised by the content.

Dearest Contemporary Jewellery
You know of the deep admiration I hold for you.
In your rare quieter guise, I adore and relate to you.
I want to hold you close, be near you, be reflected in you.
But your wilder side is bewildering to me.
I wish I could like it more.
I wish I could be like it more.
I have tried. I am yet to succeed.
Can I not be brought into the fold until I am more like you?
Your uncertain lover
MelbourneJeweller

For more love letters see the latest ‘Overview’ newsletter #12.

Opal gorgeousness

While I was making for the ‘My Australia‘ exhibition I tinkered with making earrings with these incredibly beautiful opals (unfortunately covered in my fingerprints in this photo!).

Aurora design; image not to be reproduced without permission

My workload, jewellery and otherwise, meant that they haven’t yet been made … though perhaps in the next few months they’ll materialize.

RMIT Year 3, Semester 2, Jewellery, even more

I promise, this is the last post about this project.

This collection had quite a number of components. I’ve already written about my most favourite ones, but thought I’d share some images of the other ‘minor’ pieces.

Exhibits 6 & 7 ; image not to be reproduced without permission

Exhibits 3 & 4 ; image not to be reproduced without permission

Exhibit 5 ; image not to be reproduced without permission

More below.

… last post in this series: RMIT Year 3: graduate exhibition  …
… see more projects from RMIT Year 3 here …

Claire McArdle ‘Gilty’ @ No Vacancy Gallery

I was really looking forward to seeing Claire McArdle‘s ‘Gilty‘ exhibition. The exhibition opened on Monday night (22nd April), but I wasn’t able to visit until the Saturday.

Exhibition media: “If an illusion deceives your perception does it make the first understanding invalid?
Does a gilt object betray us in some way or does it possess a truth of its own?
A skin of gold matches the contours of the bead in precise detail. It masks the underlying material of the piece which makes up 99% of its volume and 0% of its surface. How do you value the piece?
Is this piece pretending to be something else or is it exactly what it is and we have deceived ourselves with visual assumptions?
If you know the chain carrying the beads, the chain which is almost fully covered, is made of 18ct gold, how do you value the piece now?
Is this a truth wrapped in a deception? Or is it just a piece to be perceived with available knowledge and accepted for its form and known materiality?
Is this work guilty for being gilty?“

Together with the magic exhibition image below, you can understand why I was fascinated and was looking forward to seeing the show.

from facebook; click on image for original source

I was imagining necklaces just like the one above, in my eyes referring to ancient works, lining the walls and challenging us to wonder how we value them if they’re plated and not pure gold … or even a mixture of both … and how do we know …

Instead there were chains on black circles, accompanied by photographs of what must have been there before.
It was incomprehensible to me and my friend.
We were both incredibly disappointed.
What had gone wrong with our understanding of the exhibition media?

installation; 27th April

We sought out comfort (for me, churros and chocolate) and sat down to chat about it. It was only then, when I spent time reading the little take-away booklet from the exhibition, that it became clearer.

*Spoiler Alert*

In the booklet: “an exhibition experienced twice …
Neckpieces experienced once as wearable gilt forms. Experienced again as edible gilt beads revealing the true gold chain beneath. The pieces have not changed, they are as they always were. But the circumstances of perception have shifted. …
Objects once untouchable, displayed on gallery walls are now free to be consumed. Something on the body to become something of the body.“

Oh, so the beads were edible-gold-covered chocolate on gold chain. So the beads have been eaten at some point. Which explains only the chains remaining.

This is a fantastic and genuinely intriguing shift in perception and a great idea for an installation/performance, and it’s understandable why this was not obvious in the media as the surprise is the whole point.

However, if I knew that the there was to be a one-off ‘reveal’ of kinds, I would have made every effort to make it to the opening night. Perhaps it would have been best as a one-night-only event? With a week-long exhibition, it has left those of us not seeing the original work (well, at the very least me and my friend) really very sad.

Claire McArdle’s ‘Gilty‘ was at No Vacancy Gallery from 22nd – 28th April 2013.

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Update (2nd May): please do also see Claire McArdle’s blog post (posted yesterday), and it has so many incredible images of her work and Zoe Brand’s excellent essays; and I love how Melissa Cameron describes it. You cannot imagine how much I wish I could have been there for the opening night – it looks like so much fun. AND there’s a video!

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‘Signature Style’ @ Craft

The flu has had me in its grip for so long now that I nearly missed ‘Signature Style‘ at Craft, only catching it on the last day.

exhibition media

Exhibition media: “Signature Style is a major group exhibition exploring models of collaborative practice in contemporary jewellery. Featuring the work of some of Melbourne’s most exciting artists and jewellery practitioners Signature Style will be a significant addition to the emerging discourse around collaboration and contemporary craft. Collaboration poses a very different method of working – by its very nature, collaboration eschews individual artistic identity in favour of some kind of ‘third’ position. Signature Style will examine new methodologies of working and ‘work’, thinking through the potentials of collaboration within craft and design.“

Meredith Turnbull & Manon van Kouwijk

The combination of pieces by Meredith Turnbull and Manon van Kouswijk is stunning; their display gorgeous and sympathetic. I noticed though that their collaboration was more a conversation, as there didn’t seem to be any pieces with both of their names against them. This differed from other artists collaborations, as most of these were attributed to both artists.

installation; Katherine Wheeler & Polly van der Glas

I also loved the work by Katherine Wheeler and Polly van der Glas. Even though hair and teeth are not really my thing, and the fingers freaked me out initially, it must be said that their materials seemed well-matched. Katherine has written on her blog about the collaboration, with some lovely images; I especially enjoyed reading that: “We have both found the most successful pieces within our installation are the ones that have been made together- and taken on the 3rd entity through the collaborative process- not entirely either artist’s signature style, but a successful merge of the two.“

Tessa Blazey & Alexi Freeman

Thirdly, the dress by Tessa Blazey and Alexi Freeman is arresting. The shadow it creates on the wall is too beautiful.

Participating artists are:

• Nicholas Bastin [site] & Matthew Dux
• Dan Bell, Bianca Hester, Charlie Sofo, Nathan Gray, Christopher LG Hill, Liang Luscombe & Oliver van der Lugt
• Tessa Blazey [site] & Alexi Freeman [site]
• Michaela Bruton & Kane Ikin [site]
• Milly Flemming [site] & Dani Maugeri [site]
• Natalia Milosz-Piekarska [site] & Katherine Doube
• Nina Oikawa & Bridget Bodenham [site]
• Meredith Turnbull & Manon van Kouswijk
• Karla Way [site] & Dylan Martorell [site]
• Katherine Wheeler [site] & Polly van der Glas [site]

installation

Karla Way has written about her work on her blog too, and has some amazing images of her incredible work with Dylan; while I found the sheer number of objects to look at a little overwhelming, my friend loved LOVED it [see her blog post here].

Natalia Milosz-Piekarska has also written about her work on her blog too. Her body piece is incredibly beautiful and the video shown alongside it, worn by dancer Katherine Doube is mesmerising.
Update (30th April): also see VettiLiveinNorthcote’s post for some lovely images of the installation.

Bridget Bodenham has also shared an image of her work with Nina.

‘Signature Style‘ was at Craft 8th March – 27th April 2013.

More detail on ‘My Australia’ pieces

I had such fun making three brooches for the ‘My Australia‘ exhibition.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the construction was a little different to work I’ve made before. The adaptions to construction were due to these being brooches, not pendants – so I needed to find a way of incorporating the brooch backs / pins.

in progress

My Australia group; image not to be reproduced without permission

My Australia group; image not to be reproduced without permission

They were essentially made upside-down, with the bezel set on the back. I could probably refine the method with more practice.

I added a single thread of fine gold cloisonné wire to the back of the ‘Sunrise‘ brooch … I love surprises just for the wearer.

I’d love to see the exhibition in its entirety – the collection of makers looks diverse and interesting!

‘My Australia‘ is at Seven Spirit Bay Eco Resort until November 2013. [see update below]

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Update (26th April): The exhibition was originally to open in April and go through to November; however I understand that due to unforeseen circumstances, the exhibition will be moved to a new location and will open in a few months.

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My pieces for ‘My Australia’ exhibition

I have some pieces in the ‘My Australia‘ exhibition, curated by Jasmine Matus and held in the Seven Spirit Bay Eco Resort in the Northern Territory [see update below].

Some sneak peek images were shared a little while ago; and it’s my practice to wait until an exhibition is up before showing in detail images.

Jasmine put the call out for artists to join her exhibition: “Create a body of work that details ‘your Australia’, what Australia holds true to you with a focus on the natural landscape.” Naturally, my thoughts immediately turned to my little collection of opals; and to expand my exploration of combining opals and woven paper panels.

I felt it was time to reduce reliance on (or perhaps the prominence of) the woven paper component … so my three brooches show a progression seeing a large portion of the weave to seeing very little of it.

My Australia; group; image not to be reproduced without permission

From left to right: ‘Sunrise‘, ‘Rockpool‘ and ‘Riverbed‘.

My camera / photography set-up isn’t too fancy, and as such I find it pretty tricky to find the best way to photograph the incredible beauty of opals.

Sunrise; image not to be reproduced without permission

Rockpool; image not to be reproduced without permission

Riverbed; image not to be reproduced without permission

These were constructed in a manner a little different to previous work … I’ll detail in another post tomorrow.

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Update (26th April): The exhibition was originally to open in April; however I understand that due to unforeseen circumstances, the exhibition will be moved to a new location and will open in a few months.

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