NMIT graduates ‘MINT’ @ Northcote Town Hall

Each year I visit the exhibition of jewellery and objects from the NMIT graduates of the Advanced Diploma of Engineering Technology, I am impressed. This year is no exception.

‘MINT‘ is at the Northcote Town Hall; there are lots of pieces, from 35 students and many are for sale or similar works can be made to order.

photograph taken with permission

Some pieces I think worth mentioning include:

• Melanie Rice’s enamelling pieces are accomplished
• a dramatic tiara by Priscilla Daffen
• the black bowl and hanging object by Mary Hackett
• a gently shaped bowl by Josephine Gaetani
• proud and elegant vessels by Sarah Heyward

photograph taken with permission

The handskills are very very good and all of the pieces are incredibly accomplished. As almost everything is so well finished and crafted, however, I found that for me there were only a handful of pieces that were truly exciting in the raw kind of way I enjoy seeing in emerging artists. That’s not to take anything away from the work exhibited – this is a show all aspiring and current jewellery students should visit.

See more images of the work on the MINT blog and be sure to click on the slide show.  Also see the review of the show by the lovely VettiLiveinNorthcote!

I visited the exhibition twice on Saturday, and on one of the visits overheard a conversation that compared the different styles and student experiences of NMIT and RMIT… I’ve touched a little on this before and think it is a really interesting and important topic and intend to write more about it in the future … If you’ve studied at either, especially if you’ve studied at both, I’d love to hear from you if you’d be happy for me to ask you many questions about your experiences (for a future story). Either email me or leave a comment; also, I’m happy to respect any requests for anonymity too, so don’t let that stop you volunteering!

‘MINT‘ is at the Northcote Town Hall until 21st November 2009.