Nelson Jewellery Week (NJW) was an incredible opportunity for the Aotearoa contemporary jewellery and small object making community to come together to connect, as well as share ideas and objects. There was a very full schedule over the time NJW was running (13-13 April 2023) of things to see, to experience and to listen to.
I was lucky enough to be a part of several events. One such event was the incredible exhibition ‘Licky’ at Quiet Dog Gallery, Nelson. It came about through the hard work (and wrangling of makers) by the wonderful maker Sharon Fitness. Sharon asked queer and straight jewellers alike who they knew that were current contemporary jewellery makers and were queer. What she found was that hardly any one in the jewellery community, both in New Zealand and Australia, spoke about being queer. No one on her list of makers for a potential exhibition made stereotypical queer work. As Sharon said “…we do not slather our work in rainbows. The work is queer because we are. Unfortunately this tends to make us invisible to ourselves and to heterosexuals. So here we are: a pride of lesbians on an ice cream date.” The idea of ‘Licky’ was created.
Artists: Ann Culy, Bin Dixon-Ward, Becky Bliss, Catherine Truman, Laura Deakin, Michelle Hales, Neke Moa, Nellie Peoples, Sharon Fitness, Sue Lorraine, Victoria McIntosh
Within the exhibition there was a diverse range of works in ideas, materials and forms. It was incredible to see all our work together. For me personally, it allowed a safe space to bring humour and lightness to my work. The exhibition was an opportunity for me to play with an aspect of who I am that I don’t typically explore in practice. For the exhibition I created a series of necklaces which were a joyful celebration of breasts. They come in all shapes and sizes. No two are the same. Each is as individual as the person who has them. The same can be said for each of the hand cut titanium links of the necklaces. Not all women have breasts, and not all people with breasts are women. Yet, with these chains we can all be chest proud.
All Shapes and Sizes series
All Shapes and Sizes: Bazongas
All Shapes and Sizes: Jugs
All Shapes and Sizes: Ta-Tas
I was also a part of Mandy Flood’s ‘A Jewellers Game’, Nelson edition. It ran over the course of the NJW. Jewellers were invited to make a brooch or pin that was attached to a postcard that sat in the courtyard of the Arden Bar + Kitchen, Nelson. There people were encouraged to choose from an enormous amount of brooches and pins and sat in the courtyard and try on a brooch. The postcards they were attached to gave an insight into the brooch or the makers. Once you were done you returned the brooch and postcard to the stand.
My brooch was constructed from a steel sign that my grandparents had printed on for the old hardware store, Peoples Hardware. The steel sign was originally a giant red arrow on a white background. I decided to play around with the idea of being directed or expected to move in a certain direction, as per the original function of the sign. I abstracted the arrow to try and make it not too obvious at first glance where it came from. I then put the arrow disc on a central pivot point, so I could be spun in any direction. The wearer could choose which way they were aiming for. I spent a lot of time on the pivot point to try and make the movement have a bit of grip so that it would stay in the direction that was chosen. It was such a fun process making a giant brooch, but also a fantastic technical challenge to get the movement to what I had envisioned. To view the pin’s movement, click the link here: arrow pin movement
The idea of ‘A Jewellers Game’ was such a wonderful experience to see an incredible range of brooches. It was even more special to be able to put them on and try them out. As makers we love to see the backs of brooches, which is not always possible in an exhibition setting. We could look at fantastic brooch solutions for pins and clasps (more than once the refrain could be heard “oh, this pin has nice tension”), as well as wonderful designs, and beautiful messages on the postcard on which they sat. It also allowed the chance to fan-girl and put on brooches by makers that we dreamt of owning.
It was an incredible week to be a part of. For the first NJW in 2021 I was over 2000km away in Brisbane, Australia, green with envy seeing all the posts of the week on social media. I was ecstatic to be there in person this year. I met some absolutely incredible makers and look forward to the next Nelson Jewellery Week in 2025.