When I noticed that the ring in the image on the invitation included “recycled 18ct yellow gold wedding ring”, and the title was ‘Adversity‘, I felt Kathryn Wardill‘s exhibition at e.g.etal may be a very personal one. I wasn’t wrong.
exhibition media
Exhibition media:
“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.” (Cormac McCarthy)
For Kathryn Wardill, poor concentration and skills, a creeping lack of judgement, inability to sustain work ethics and difficulty adhering to timelines were complications encountered in the making of some 40 rings. In fact, these difficulties have indelibly influenced the nature of her new series, Adversity. This collection of rings explores the emotional and physical consequences of adversity, exploring the ways in which difficult personal situations affect the making process from a conceptual and technical perspective.”
With some of the rings in the collection titled ‘Split’, ‘Red Hot Tears’, ‘Whole Split in Half’ … I felt pain. I felt that I was trespassing into the artist’s private life. Even though I of course recognise that the artist has invited us there by showing the exhibition, I actually felt a little uncomfortable and that perhaps I now ‘knew too much’ in a strange way (I’m very private, so like to treat others the same way).
exhibition media; click on image for original source
The above group, called ‘Bouquet – Flowers Fall‘, on first glance reminded me of Nina Oikawa’s claw-set work. But of course on closer consideration it is completely different – the technique and materials totally different, and their intent totally different. I am sometimes plagued by these kind of ‘reminders’ on initial glance, but am very careful to work through it to clear it and to see the new work as the artist made it.
The e.g.etal blog has an interview with Kathryn about this group of work and the exhibition here.
‘Adversity‘ is at e.g.etal until 1st October 2011.
Melbourne Jeweller 