WELCOME TO HANDSHAKE 4 NEWS
Check out this short video with Kim Whalen and Kylie Sinkovich talking about their work at their LEANINGS exhibition, Pah Homestead, Auckland (Nov 2017)
(January 2017) Ruudt Peters (international renowed artist and educator from the Netherlands) made the selection of 12 mentees and mentors for HANDSHAKE 4, with exhibitions lined up at Pah Homestead, Auckland, October 2017; Toi Poneke, Wellington during the International Festival of The Arts, March 2018; Corban Estate Arts Centre during Auckland Art Week, October 2018 and an on-line exhibition on the HS4Handshake website (under construction).
Vivien Atkinson mentored by Ben Lignel (FR)
Mandy Flood mentored by Volker Atrops (DE)
Nik Hanton mentored by Vincent Pontillo-Verrastro (US)
Brendon Monson mentored by Aaron Decker (US)
Jennifer Laracy mentored by Judy Darragh (NZ)
Caroline Thomas mentored by Nicolas Cheng (HKG/SW)
Kylie Sinkovich mentored by Ben Lignel (FR)
Katie Pascoe mentored by Francis Upritchard (NZ)
Nadine Smith mentored by Regan Gentry (NZ)
Sandra Schmid mentored by Tanel Veenre (ES)
Kim Whalen mentored by Beatrice Brovia (IT/SW)
Keri-Mei Zagrobelna mentored by Jasmin Matzakow (DE)
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...
The things you do !!! Thanks Estela Saez
I am a believer of what you put in equates to what comes out. So how did someone who works with enamel, concrete and silver end up with fabric and thread? She took a risk, got inspiration from Estela and had the time to explore. The opportunity to do this is due 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...
Darning in different languages
So far I’ve been using a very basic darning stitch – I have the mantra ‘over under’ constantly running through my mind as I work. But thanks to reading Tom van Deijnen’s (tomofholland) blog I’ve become aware of other darning methods, Finnish, Scottish and Swiss – all...
Atmosphere
Japanese design and architecture This has been a source I continually draw on as inspiration since I began my contemporary jewellery journey almost 9 years ago. It probably also stems back even further with a few trips to Japan in my formative years, studying the...
Heat Treated
A delicious refreshing spin on the origins of gemstones and the various treatments used to enhance their colour and beauty. RECIPE INGREDIENTS Assorted shiny things e.g. faceted gemstones, shattered hard drive, glass beads Polymer clay Rolling pin Baking paper Baking...
The 4 c’s when valuing a diamond
O p e n S p a c e s
‘Holding space’ An act that is at once present and totally invisible. - Harrison Owen The trust of self organisation, the force that created the universe and brought us to this point, will continue to work its magic. A principle in submitting yourself to...
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...
Early thoughts…
The container or holder of special jewels and treasured items has always held a sense of intrigue, secrecy, the sacred and a dose of nostalgia for me. It’s like a tiny doorway into another time that I briefly crack open with the creak of a hinge as the velvet (or...
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...
Hall of Mirrors: on journeying, viewing, and the critical legacy of encounters.
by Lieta Marziali An essay about the exhibition Te Ao Hurihuri /Ever-Changing Worlda collaboration between Dialogue Collective and Handshake Project, The Crypt Gallery, London, 23-27 October 2018. Read it on KLIMT02
We have come to the end.
Two years have passed and handshake4 has come to an end. It has been a great two years full of interesting people, exhibitions and workshops. The mentorship program is definitely a valuable part of the handshake project. I would say that the relationship I build with...
Te Ao Huri Huri
Te Ao Huri Huri was a dynamic and unusually lively show considering it was held in a Crypt which is still the final resting place to 557 people. Although there were parts of the crypt that were extremely eerie After some ceremony and blessings and time spent together...
hs4 Experience and Evaluation
'Caught in the Web' 2018 Evaluation - my personal HS4 program experience and outcome The definition of ‘evaluation’ according to the Online Dictionary: the making of a judgement about the amount, number, or value of something; assessment. This leads to the following...
Summing up
Blog 27, January 20th, 2019 This iteration of the HandShake project has finished and it time to think back over the past two years and what my involvement has meant. Personally the project has stimulated an added impetus to make, a renewed energy and long hours...
Polarity
Blog 26 August 4th 2018 When did “home” become embedded in human consciousness? Is our sense of home instinctive? Are we denning animals or nest builders, or are we, at root, nomadic? For much of the earliest history of our species, home may have been nothing more...
Zine me up Scotty!
After busy weeks of online skype meetings with the team, chatting with my mentor, balancing my art practice with my home life work commitments I am finally in Auckland and getting ready for what is going to be our final public Handshake4 exhibition. I am fulled with...
Poria for Polarities
Reflecting on my experimenting, research and artistic practice for our Polarities exhibition I think that my artist statement best sums up some of the thoughts that are emerging and reasons to why I have chosen to undertake exploring this body of work with Kaka...
“The Object’s Lament”
I am Naked in front of a room full of strangers left alone @ night the Ruru comforts me whispering old laments from my ancestors Through the pained glass I seeing RISING... Hine Pae Kura She Spreads and Spits Sweet dew drops across the thighs and breast of our...
35mm film
special thank you to Misma Anaru on 35mm film wearing three of my neck pieces created during Handhskake4. Kim Whalen. Wha neck-piece, harakeke and proteaceae, 2018. Kim Whalen. Kaimohu neck-piece, harakeke and proteaceae, 2018. Kim Whalen. Takahurihuri...
finis
Reflecting upon the last two years, and the Handshake4 project. An invaluable unforgettable experience. Going into this I really had no idea what I was getting into except that it was a huge full-time commitment on my end. And boy was it just that. Would I recommend...
Mentee and mentor reflections – a final signing off
In conversation with my mentor Benjamin Lignel on our personal Handshake 4 experiences. My personal Handshake journey started in a haze of self-doubt due to a period of instability in my life. The place I called home changed several times, there was a death in my...
Augusto
Its been a challenge keeping on track in August with Handshake exhibits coming and a very busy first month in business. However Sam and I have been so well supported buy the wider handshake community that the cabinets (gifted by the dowse) are already brimming with...
Hacking my way through the contemporary jewellery jungle
(Photo: Alamy) Well goodbye Handshake4, except it’s not goodbye is it? These past two years have raised more questions than given answers and I have no doubt that these questions will be nagging away for a while yet. I will try to kick them around in an attempt to...
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...
Te Ao Hurihuri – Ever Changing World
Journeys through jewellery from New Zealand and the UK...... In October 2018, as part of the events marking the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific, two groups of artists from opposite sides of the world met to exhibit their works in...
Corban Estate – Polarity
Twelve artist's, eleven mentors, two rooms, one dark, one light, the one and only Peter and Hilda, and three exhibitions including this final show after almost two years of exhibition collaboration together. The ending is sort of bittersweet, as after all the hard...
Raranga kono workshop
Polarity thoughts and talks
Peter requested that I make my small intro talk for our opening into a blog so here it is 🙂 I will be sharing a few ideas with you on Polarity: the meeting of opposites; two forces, opposing yet mutually interdependent. It’s all real, and it’s all a dream. All...
Jewel wears Jewel
Click on image.
Three OCTOBER 2018 exhibitions
exhibitions: JEWELdisplayJEWEL at Pataka, Porirua till 14 October MOREPOLARITY at Corbans, Auckland till 21 October MORETe Ao Hurihuri – Ever Changing World at the Crypt, London 23-27...
Non-Dualism
Polarity at Corbans Art Centre
7 September - 21 October 2018 HANDSHAKE 4 last public exhibition READ more
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...
Polarity and/both
Polarity suggests opposite ends, black and white, contrast, extremes, a certainty of one or the other. What I am interested in, is something less sure, the vaguely illuminating space in-between. Somewhere intuition, conflicted states and dissonance lie. Highs and...
Seeing self, observing others
Reflective materials interrupt spatial perceptions and redirect the viewer from not just seeing the object but places their own body in space in relation to that object. In Mirror Affect (2016), Christina Albu explores artworks with mirroring or reflective...
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
On another planet
Fueled by a bowl of porridge and a walk on the skyline my mind was sure to wander. You wondered about that cow picture didn't you?! Walking lets my imagination roam free and is a necessary part of my process. What my hands and mind have been up to lately: Lots of...
Polarity – Our existence would not be possible without it
From the macro viewpoint, Earth’s magnetism is an act of repelling and attracting the positive and negative north and south poles, creating a magnetic field which protects us from most solar radiation. And to the microscale, the dance of polarity is the basis for cell...
Laws of attraction
Working largely with recycled materials, I’m interested in how certain objects and materials attract me in whilst others I’ll toss aside
Thoughts on Polarity
Twelve artists drawn together for our desire and vision to use our hands and minds to make jewellery and objects. Handshake provides the platform to spring forward. Sometimes we dip, and others we dive into unknown territory to make pieces that reveal...
Kauri Taonga
So while everything putrefies, wars waging, beauties forms are eternal. I seek to honour the ephemeral by exalting it’s neglected, life giving roots, as well as its ephemeral shells. I carry this vessel, inside here watching, eyes that commit, tenacious bleeding heart...
Polarity
Contrary- perversely inclined to disagree or do the opposite of what is expected or desired. It seems the title of ‘Polarity’ has exposed words that I use to hear. I really wasn’t a rebellious child but I now live in New Zealand when others don’t. I see a beauty in...
Hemispherical Polarity
For the upcoming and final (how did that come around so quickly?) HS4 show at Corban Art Centre, we have decided on the title 'Polarity'. We were asked to write a few words to illuminate our various responses to this title and this was my response: "I’m approaching...
Back to the grindstone…
Blog 25 June 25th, 2018 Some of the unresolved experiments and ideas Literally - I’m really needing to use the space between the end of the last HandShake show and the next to get on with some work long delayed by the frenetic activity of the first half of the year. ...
Mirror Mirror
At the beginning of the year, I found two objects that have formed my line of inquiry this year. One was a shattered car rear vision mirror and the other was a disco ball. The glitter, the glam, the shatter. There is something in these objects that appeal to me,...
Words for Philip….
Polarity The property of having poles or being polar. "it exhibits polarity when presented to a magnetic needle" the relative orientation of poles; the direction of a magnetic or electric field. plural noun: polarities "the magnetic field peaks in strength immediately...
Inner Worlds and Outer Worlds
It appears that our mentorship programme is two thirds of the way done and dusted. I’ve been reflecting on where I’ve come from to where I am now during bouts of insomnia/extreme bursts of mental and physical energy. Everyone has their own private battles and mine is...
Chain Makers 1880s Black Country Birmingham
Repetition is something I struggle with. So I thought I would make a chain, to face the thing I don't enjoy. My attention span is that of a small child, unless chocolate is involved. So to move away from making chain I did some internet research. Chain making was...
Interdisciplinary Inspiration
I was listening to a podcast on a very wet dog walk today. The podcast was WTF with Marc Maron and it was a replay of an interview he did with Anthony Bourdain in 2011 - http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/repost-anthony-bourdain-from-2011 I would not describe myself as a...
PROCESS
What blooms, dies. Mortality, subject to the processes of nature, is beyond our control. And yet we celebrate life. We exalt a flowers essence - its freshness and singularity- on a literal pedestal, by making its fleetingness exquisitely visible. All too often,...
Super Positions: Stanley Street Gallery
Merilyn Installing Nik Hanton's pendants A trip to Sydney to be part of the Handshake Show Super Positions at Stanley Street Gallery provided a great opportunity to make connections with other Handshake artists, art appreciators and collectors. Liza and Merilyn, the...
Post Process
It has been a while since the last Handshake4 show "Process" so I have plenty of time to reflect on what I think worked and what didn’t work so well. Having a concept of process opened up my making a lot, I didn’t feel the need to having a completely unified series of...
Process – Toi Poneke
Participants had between 2 and 4 days (depending on where in the country they were travelling from) to respond to installation artist Gabby O'Conner's exhibition design/challenge. Drop sheets with grids drawn on them (symbolising the canvas of our workbooks/visual...
Hitting the books
So much spinning around with the final HS4 fast approaching. It is time to revert to the trusted workbook approach. It is a discipline I have let go for too long. However, getting back into it, is meditative and constructive at the same time. It is as much of...
Grid-lines – Process at Toi Poneke
Gabby O'Connor worked with us wholeheartedly for our install at Toi Poneke. The Grid-lined drop sheet installation challenged the conventional wall plinth gallery display. Hand drawn with crayons, the grid lines resembled a page in a workbook. These were hung...
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...
a dusty bookshelf and a bus ride
I have been a bit quiet on this blog and it is only to my dismay that I found a whole set of blog entries that I had compiled in my google docs but alas forgot to publish… was it a secret anxiety that stopped me from posting these thoughts, revelations and rants?...
Extincted
On Saturday night, Dave and I went to this show. Dave had seen a poster and we knew we both admired the artist's work, having seen it adorn the streets of Wellington since we first moved here in 2007. Being the middle-class, middle-aged sticklers for promptness that...
Love – Passion – Jewellery
A Week of Indulgence “Unpacking the Language of Things” 12/13 April 2018 organised by Sian van Dyk, Curator at The Dowse, Lower Hutt “NO FILTER” 9 - 15 April 2018 organised by Occupational Artists, Wellington On the world scale of events it would be a micro-particle...
Pareidolia
Some people see the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast. I see a face in a piece of saddle leather.
The Language of Things
Blog 24 April 20th Arrived back from Sydney and got stuck into some gold-leafing for a show some members of Occupation: Artist are putting on for No Filter. The group decided to support the Dowse who are putting on a fantastic Symposium on April 12-13th. We...
A busman’s holiday…Sydney
Blog 23 April 12th The trip to Sydnay marked the culmination of a work that has been in progress since December 1st 2017. The R Matrix was made in response to the theme of the current Sydney Biennale, Superposition, a complex theory drawn from quantum mechanics. The...
Artists as Collectors
Great to have Liesbeth den Besten in New Zealand again and to hear her talk about Artists as Collectors. I was especially interested in the work of one of the artists she spoke about – Hanne Darboven, a German conceptual artist who accumulated a vast collection of...
march
does contemporary jewelry need to be conceptual?
echo echo
The show at Toi Poneke was adventurous and lived up to the title of PROCESS…
London Stock
I've had this project in mind for a while now and think that it might be what I will concentrate on for the next few months. The project is at the very very early stages but it's based on London Stock brick. For more information on London Stock brick, see this link...
Lines of Intent, Toi Poneke
One of the highlights of the Toi Poneke 'Process' show was the Masterclass with Lauren Kalman. This was a chance for a master contemporary jeweller to assess our work and offer new insights into our practice. The critique confirmed my interest in the gestural object...
‘schmuck’ or not
‘to push it into wearable - no ..... just let it go without thinking about wearability maybe later on if you have really have a want or idea you can go for 'schmuck' again’ Volkers words on crit with Otto Kunzli 14th April 2018. So with words from Volker and crits...
Community
There is nothing like the coming together of like-minded people who are supportive, engaged and passionate about the same thing you are. The Contemporary Jewellery community in NZ is just such a community.
Source, intuition and play – part of the process…
In general I work intuitively without a plan. By playing with materials and combining them in different ways their individual voices come through via the hand and mind working seemingly unconsciously. I work on more than one project at a time. This enables me...
And another thing….
Blog 21 15th March Last week was busy with the installation of the show at Toi Poneke in Wellington. Gabby O’Connor played a large part in directing the alterations or perhaps interventions made to the gallery. We each ended up with a large painters dropsheet hung on...
Is that light I can see at the end of the tunnel?
Blog 20 1st March There is a tantalising thought that there is a day not so far off when I might have a day off to sleep in or just be lazy all day, but not yet – I’m thinking maybe June? Before then there are extra long days to be put in to get everything sorted for...
Juggling act
What I found myself thinking as I juggled Handshake commitments, participated in Occupation Artist performances, went to work as a nurse and then tried to have time for my partner, friends and family and time to myself was that I could be spreading myself a bit...
Multi-tasking?
Blog 19 February 15th Pile of MDF dust Is it better to claim to be multi-tasking than to admit out loud that I’ve (again) taken on too much? I did think that the move to working with the MDF would be a quick and easy project but it has not turned out that way at...
Transitory matter
A duality that in reality is affinity Something so fragile we hold afar but is inordinately near Our co-dependency is echoed in shapes as substances dialogue with each other concerning permeation of deleterious waste We are all transitory matter It is only a matter of...
The Importance of Preservation
The lessons of preservation, something that I have been forced to focus on these last 6 months, even the last year. One year seems like such an arbitrary number now. One year. One year older. One year living alone in the middle of the bush land of the New Zealand...
The wrinkle and the gaze
The OED defines the gaze as to look steadily and intently, especially in admiration, surprise, or thought. In critical theory, the gaze offers comment on the relationship between the observer and the observed. Over time the skin records how we react, our choices,...
to and fro
Its been a busy summer with not as many uninterrupted days in the workshop as I would have liked..but still somewhat productive with some other exhibitions on the go and great time spent with the family. I have resumed skype and conversations with Judy and now...
Kaimōhū
The forest said Numb hospitality. I don’t want to talk about it. Still listening to everyone else’s problems. I love you like I don’t love myself. I sing for you tomorrow. Sick of being afraid. Tear my page. You wild peaceful being Nothing or no one will ever compare....
Handshake 4 – PROCESS
Process at Toi Pōneke Gallery brings together original works by the twelve HS4 jewellers who are currently half-way through their two-year mentorship programme. A unique exhibition design by artist Gabby O'Connor extends the idea of process by including works in...
Greatness & smallness
There are some inspirations and admirations that stand the test of time. In fact, centuries of time already. I’ve been looking at the work of one of the most impressive creators, inventors, scientists and artists of all time- Leonardo Da Vinci. Such intellect,...
Human wear
Sitting on stone steps, a casual remark or waiting in airports. Inspiration arrives in strange places and in unexpected times. The beginnings of this project began with a conversation while taking a break from the install at Pah Homestead, where I was sitting on...
Doubt versus Confidence
Doubt can motivate you, so don't be afraid of it. Confidence and doubt are at two ends of the scale, and you need both. They balance each other out. Barbara Streisand Doubt versus Confidence Halfway through the mentorship program it was time to reflect on the past...
Beyond boundaries
There are often expectations to push a material to & beyond its boundaries when pursuing a design, form or idea so that is original & unexpected. This usually results in considerable wasted material & failures but is also an invaluable way of making new...
Holding on, Letting go
When having to move workshop space the reality of the stuff I keep was more than apparent. There were test pieces going back to 2010, nestled safely in the back of unopened drawers. The ‘you never know when’ classification of storage obviously applied to these wee...
Mahuru
Mahuru a.k.a September was a very busy month for me indeed.I was honored enough to be funded by Creative New Zealand to be able to travel to Melbourne for Radiant Pavilion which is a bi-annual contemporary jewelry festival and attend the MakingOUT Symposium,...
Waste not……
At the end of the Pah Homestead show I drove up to Auckland to collect work and ended bringing a load of the planks used for display back as well. They have been sitting in my studio as no one really wants them. The contrasting colours are really attractive and have...
All Change
Packing at Whitereia All change seems to be the theme of late. I’ve been at Whitereia (the institute where Peter Deckers teaches Jewellery and where I studied and have been mentoring/lecturing) helping with the sorting (30 years accumulation), packing and storing. A...
Within This Skin at ‘Leanings’– Pah Homestead Gallery
Working with the eventual materials of this project was a significant departure from my typical and ‘safe’ mediums that I am familiar with. The general fragility and unpredictability of these new materials made the tenuous early stages of the creative process even...
Altered States – Leanings Exhibit at Pah Homestead
A summary of my work in the Leanings show at Pah Homestead My work Altered States evolved with diorama like play. Lots of scenarios were played out with bits and pieces on boiler bases before the final work was completed. Scenes were arranged and rearranged for...
What About that Pink Volcano?
In late August, I had gone so wide on technique and making, I was left thinking what have I done? Perspective had left me. This is where having access to a mentor and being part of the Handshake project came into its own. I contacted Francis, sent her with images and...
Enamel Crush
About midway through the year, I started experimenting with enamel. Object collection and use is both a reoccurring theme and constraint in my work. I started finding old enamel dishes, hammering and cutting them up and reapplying the crushed pieces of enamel, firing...
Musings
Art has its muses and jewellery has its relationships. Part of what happened in the studio this year was making jewellery with certain women in mind. Helen Clark was Francis' first suggestion. She was joined by the eclectic mix of Jean Batten, Grace Jones, Francis...
Material changes bring challenge and enthusiasm
Sometimes its hard to know when I have exhausted the limits of a material. Changing from one material to another can create a breathing space, open other doors and let more possibilities unfold. Other times its a way of avoiding a technical challenge or not knowing...