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HANDSHAKE 4

 

 

 Nik Hanton

Using the age-old materials and techniques of leather, wood, binding, and hand painting Nik Hanton revisits these methods, reshapes them, and brings them into a contemporary context that examines the complex social experience of being human.

After studying Sociology and Psychology Nik worked for a number of years in a variety of Media industries before following her passion for jewellery.

In 2015 Nik completed a Bachelor of Applied Arts majoring in Contemporary Jewellery from Whitireia NZ, received the Fingers Gallery Graduate Award and won the ECC / Dowse student Craft/Design Award for Jewellery from The Village Goldsmith. She recently returned from The Netherlands where a series of her work was selected for the prestigious Galerie Marzee International Graduate show.

Completion…

The series that I developed for HandShake 7 revolved around concepts that has long interested me.That of "lexical semantics," "the analysis of word meanings and relations between them" (Oxford Dictionary) and the use of typefaces for communicating ideas and evoking...

Masterclasses- further reflections

As I look back on the experience, I further appreciate that there is nothing quite like hearing how others approach their work to inspire and make you question your own approach to your own work. Because of the way the masterclasses were structured, you had access to...

Growth

  I landed on the path that I wanted to take for the Handshake Masterclass (HS7) quite early in the process, thanks to the tasks that Estella set. While I had an initial vision of the direction I wanted to go in, having the fresh eyes of Estella and the team of...

Layer Upon Layer

Creating the work for the Stanley St Show has been a steep learning curve as I’d never worked with 3D printing much before this year. That was only part of the problem though as the options are endless. Trying to consolidate your ideas, while at the same time wanting...

The nature of what is jewellery is forever changing

Jewellery pieces that had previously been seen as novel and innovative are now dated and iterative. This is the joy of the craft. It *IS* ever-changing. And should be ever-changing. Potentially, drawing on history and making it "now". There are so many jewellery...

Ancient materials

There is sand on the floor, Sand in my hair, Under my finger-nails, Sand everywhere. Following the making of my pieces for Te Uru Contemporary Gallery, I'm still cleaning up sand from my studio. I suspect I will be for some time. Made through the erosion of rock...

The end

And so we reach the end of the Handshake 4 journey... A journey that's involved emails, messages and video conversations sent over a distance of more than 13,463 kms. It's involved time a difference of 19 hours with one rising for the day and the other concluding...

Dual Process

When we’re making decisions we approach the process using two different systems of thinking. In Psychology, the name for this process is called "Dual Process Theory". The first system is our intuition. It's swift, automatic, subconscious and emotional. The second...

Intersection / Polarity

A different kind of Polarity... It's not news that there's a considerable overlap and intersection between different art practices. Maybe one of the least expected intersections could be the relationship between hip-hop and traditional art movements such as the...

Polarities

The magic in life's about polarities- without light there's no shadow. I've been thinking about our up-coming show Polarity and the kind of work I want to make given the nature of the space, the installation plan and the title of the group show. The idea of...