The exhibition looked fantastic and for some unknown reason, I neglected to take any photos! I did get some holiday snaps though!

We went to the gallery…

2012 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art

The Biennial was about to open and some exhibits were already on display. In the picture above, artist Tom Nicholson had collected multiple copies of HJ Johnstone’s Evening Shadows and exhibited them salon style. Evening Shadows was the gallery’s very first acquisition and its most frequently copied painting. And there’s our tour guide extraordinaire, Lauren Simeoni in the corner.

Nicholas Folland

Nicholas Folland

This work sounded beautiful!

I love a Fairweather

We also went on a tour of the Jam Factory metal design studio

tools

The cutest polishing motor in the world!

We found a great pop up bar for Fringe called Tuxedo Cat…

Tuxedo Cat

caravan bar at Tuxedo Cat

pallet seating at Tuxedo Cat

And got to see some free comedy!

And I can’t remember this guy’s name! But he was funny!

A great weekend was had, thanks Laide.

Margaret West was the head of Jewellery and Object Design at Sydney College of the Arts when I attended there from 1991-3. Under her direction, we were encouraged to think and to research, to explore and to investigate, to analyse and really see objects and our surroundings.

Her own practice explores the “expressive potential and cultural resonance of a wide range of materials in the making of series of enigmatic objects” (from her website).

Maquettes for lead vessels 1988 lead various sizes

When I was first introduced to the work of Margaret West, she was making jewellery and objects from lead. As Julie Ewington writes in her catalogue essay to Margaret’s interstices exhibition from 1993, Lead is… “malleable and toxic, protective density its major virtue”

12-11=1 1989 (detail) lead, gold leaf, clay, sand, ash each 98x5cm

Casket : Grey Matter 1987 wood, lead, various tokens 66x66x83mm

I remember most strongly her lead bibs. They looked like they would be delicious to wear. Heavy and protective. But knowledge of their materiality made me recoil. It was this emotional reaction to a material that intrigued me.

Bib for an Ostrich (protection factor 5.6) 1982 lead, stainless steel 750x130mm

Bib for an Ostrich (protection factor 3.7) 1982 lead, stainless steel 380x160mm

In the mid 90’s (it would seem as a reaction to the years of working with the density and mass of lead) Margaret produced a series of large balsa wood brooches called Light as Air. Smooth hand painted surfaces that looked like stone, but would be light and warm to the touch.

Colour of Air 1993 Balsa wood, paint, brass

Pyre 1993 Balsa wood, paint,brass 75x112x79mm

Nimbus 1993 Balsa wood, graphite, brass 75x111x79mm

And it is stone that seems to now be West’s choice of material. Granite, basalt, marble and slate; thinly sliced, cut, polished and painted to represent flowers, sky and clouds.

Rapt 1999 basalt, paint, silver 9925) 45x48x5mm

Rosa scissa 2004 basalt, paint, silver (925) 81 x 85 x 9mm

memo: shadow of faded daffodil 2007 basalt, paint, silver (925) 9 x 8.5 x 0.5cm

The impenetrability and heaviness of stone is thus at striking odds with the imagery West conjures out of their surface and substance. There is an essential play here between solidity and lightness, surface and depth, which ultimately poses an unanswerable question: how can stones float, or flowers become as lasting as geological time?

Wide (true) blue yonder, by Julie Ewington, first published in Object, 1/2000,

Sepal 2009 Basalt, paint, silver (925) 80x60x5mm

it flurries … 2011 marble, ink, silver (925) 82 x 84 x 5mm

indigo note 2011 granite, ink, silver (925) 52 x 50 x 5mm

I really value the education I received under the tutelage of Margaret West; she helped me to gain a knowledge and understanding of materials and how and why we use them.

She also introduced me to jewellery and craft theory and in particular the book Craft In Society (ed. Noris Ioannou) published in 1992. In it, I found an essay by Kevin Murray, which changed the way I thought about the wearing of jewellery and I will introduce it to you next week…

All images and quotes taken from the artist’s website with permission.

Neckpiece: silver, wood, dyed nylon monofilament, 1978 Image taken from the catalogue Inspired Jewellery From the Museum of Arts and Design, New York

I mentioned last week a conversation I had with Katherine Bowman about the British artist Caroline Broadhead. I was surprised to learn that Katherine knew little about the work of Caroline Broadhead and her British contemporaries from the 1970’s and 80’s. While the Dutch and German jewellers from this period have very strong profiles, it seems the British and American artists receive much less exposure.

I had seen Broadhead’s work in the New Jewellery book but it was while I was waiting for my interview to get in to Jewellery and Object Design at Sydney College of the Arts that I was nervously flicking through a catalogue¹ and came across these two images.

22 in 1 (armpiece): white cotton, 1984

18 Cushions armpiece: folded white cotton 1984

I was blown away by the way these works complemented and extended the body. And I realised that jewellery can be about the whole body and not just the finger the ear or (heaven forbid) the lapel!

This is what they look like when they’re not on the body:

22 in 1 (armpiece): white cotton, 1984 image: powerhousemuseum collection database

18 Cushions armpiece: folded white cotton 1984 image: powerhousemuseum collection database

“The form of each piece changes when it is worn or not worn and it is intended to be seen in both states. The form, proportions and the method of putting on and taking off the piece are all defined by the body.“

- Caroline Broadhead quoted in the Cross Currents catalogue.

While I am now more interested in exploring the role of jewellery and its relationship to identity, when I was a student I was very interested in how jewellery can foster an awareness of the relationship between the object and the body. Indeed, the title and abstract of my masters thesis is:

The jewellery object and intimacy: an examination of the relationship between the viewer and the object,

The aim of this project is to examine the physical and psychological relationship between the viewer and the jewellery object.  I will examine  the format of the miniature to investigate how scale plays a role in our psychological attachment to objects. I will draw on my own memories of childhood to study the intense nature of the child’s relationship with objects.  I will use jewellery’s inherrent tactility  to look at our physical relationship to objects and I will work with groups of objects to examine how our relationship with an individual jewellery object changes when it functions as part of a group.

Mozzie tanks objects with removable lids and earrings (2005): brass, 18ct yellow gold, pearls.

Elements of this are still evident when my work incorporates movement or invites interaction.

Collins Street Crusader (diorama with removable brooch) 2008: reworked biscuit tin, sublimate printed aluminium, copper.

Kracken

Fortunately I was accepted into the program at Sydney College of the Arts, which could’ve had something to do with mentioning my newfound admiration for Caroline Broadhead during the interview! I really value the education I received at SCA and next week’s post will be about the work of Margaret West who was the Head of Department during my undergraduate years there.

¹ Cross Currents: Jewellery from Australia Britain Germany Holland published by the Powerhouse Museum Sydney, 1984

I thought for these blog posts that I’d share with you a few things that inspired me in the early stages of my journey to becoming a jeweller. The wonderful folks at e.g.etal have handed me the mantle of guest blogger for four posts so I’ve managed to narrow it down to four things: a book, two artists and a writer.

It’s probably kind of embarrassing, but I got into making jewellery because I wanted to make pretty things for myself to wear! I was doing a short course in jewellery making at Randwick TAFE in Sydney and I stumbled across this book…

The New Jewellery: Trends and Traditions by Peter Dormer and Ralph Turner

And it opened up a whole new world of what jewellery can be for me.

Rose by Gijs Bakker: Colour photograph in laminated plastic 1983

It was first published in 1985 and is a comprehensive survey of the beginnings of the contemporary jewellery movement from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. While contemporary jewellery has come a long way in the last 25 years (and a discussion of the definition of the “contemporary jewellery movement” is much bigger and more complex than four blog posts) it presents work that still challenges current perceptions of what jewellery can be.

As a young jewellery student, it taught me that jewellery didn’t need to be made from silver and gold…

necklace by Stirling Clark: pasta, 1983

Paper neckpiece by David Watkins: paper spiral 1983

Bracelets by Caroline Broadhead: Nylon, 1981

…and that jewellery can make you think…

Necklace for Womba by David Poston: Limestone, hemp, mild steel, cotton, bronze, 1975

Armband with objects by Onno Boekhoudt: silver, copper, lead, 1983

It also showed that jewellery could relate to the body in many different ways…

Ladder piece by Julia Manheim: plastic tubing, 1983

Brooches by Otto Kunzli: Wallpaper, hardfoam, 1983

…and that jewellery can be theatre

161 Neckpiece, veil by Caroline Broadhead: Nylon monofilament, 1983

Shirt with Seven Sleeves and Shirt with Seven Necks by Caroline Broadhead, 1983

These last couple of works are by British artist Caroline Broadhead and it was a discussion of her work with my Northcity4 colleague Katherine Bowman which inspired the theme of these four guest posts. And you’ll have to wait until next week you’ll find out why…

Cheers, Anna

PS – I swear that it’s an absolute co-incidence that 8 out of the 10 works that I chose to reproduce from this book were made in 1983. It just must have been a very good year for contemporary jewellery!

All images photographed directly from the book.

Musical Instrument as jewellery?

And is that a Tuba?

Two for a kiss

Three for a letter

Four for something better

The Northcity4 team had our final meeting for the year at our new local, The Sporting Club Hotel in Brunswick. Great pub, great food, great location, great atmosphere, great service and, lo and behold, a great beer garden decorated with the number 4! It’s a sign.

Thus began my indoctrination into the Church of Craft.

I’ve since taught 2 workshops and attended 3 as a student and I cannot tell you enough how much fun it is to spend a week in Ballarat, staying in the boarders quarters of Ballarat Grammar, being fed 3 meals a day, hanging out with like-minded Crafty folk and just MAKING STUFF for FIVE DAYS STRAIGHT!!!

There’s also a bit of partaying…

Ballarat 2008

Anyways… Glenys had an idea to run a week of workshops that were just about jewellery, what a great idea I says! Can I put forward my Northcity4 colleagues as potential teachers?

Sure thing, she replies, and can you suggest a couple of overseas artists as well?

After lots of thinking, googling and negotiating, the result is… ART JEWELLERY @ THE WINTER SCHOOL, 30th June – 5th July 2012

2012 Winter School

It is going to be ACE! You enrol with one tutor for the week but everyone gets together for meals and socialising. It’s very relaxed and lots of fun as well as being inspiring and a creative kick up the bum.

Check out the links to the artists from the Fibre Arts page and get your enrolment form in.

If I wasn’t teaching, I’d be doing the Arthur Hash workshop.

“Goldsmiths in India. They call them Sonar I think.
Have a close look at what’s going on here.
No gas torch, ( the guy in front has a little brazier of coals, he is blowing through a pipe to make it hotter for soldering) also no sheet rollers, no bench, no chair, no wall…”

This is for my friend who is not as near to me as I would like.

You’d all bloody better be buying jewellery.

But if you’re not, get yerselves over here to my mate Lucy James’s not-to-be-missed, Christmas sale spectacular

I got this one….

and this one….

ostensibly for presents but possibly won’t make it that far.