by Rachael Chapman | Mar 23, 2025 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman, Sample
It’s so nice to have this blog space to expand on the creative thoughts around this project. So often we are limited to a certain word-count for artist statements. For the record, that’s not a complaint – concise statements have their place, but I think 2...
by Fiona Frew | Oct 29, 2024 | Fiona Few, Handshake8, Sample
For me Labour Weekend, a New Zealand public holiday, has always been associated with celebrating my birthday and with miserable wet weather. But, it is an important weekend holiday that has more significance than merely time off work. Labour Day is actually a time to...
by Denise Callan | Aug 7, 2024 | Denise Callan, Handshake8, Sample
As I look back at my works from our Proof of Concept exhibition as a beginning point to move forward, the prospect of a new beginning feels quite daunting. Yet, the more rational parts of me know there is much to discover if I can take that first step. From this...
by Rachael Chapman | Jul 9, 2024 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman, Sample
….My personal mentor for this year, Katrin Spranger. I couldn’t believe my luck when Katrin said yes to mentoring me for the 2nd year of Handshake 8. She was my first choice and is such an impressive artist and entrepreneur. I clearly remember the day I stumbled...
by Fiona Frew | Jun 5, 2024 | Fiona Few, Sample
It might seem like a weird question to consider but something that I puzzle over is whether or not to clean the materials (at the moment found rubbish objects and things) that I am currently working with. For some people this is probably not a question that they...
by Rachael Chapman | Jan 23, 2024 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman, Sample
Like most Handshake8 participants, after our exhibition in November 2023, I was wiped out and needed a break from the constant problem solving and long hours of the preceding year…it was great for a week, but by the following Sunday I was bored, cranky, and in need of...
by Rachael Chapman | Nov 28, 2023 | Handshake8, Rachel Chapman, Sample
A few weeks ago while preparing for a landlord inspection I was on a cleaning binge, and thought I would be clever and polish up a couple of brass candle stick holders in the workshop with my polishing machine. Part way through the first one, after an initial wow at...
by Rachael Chapman | Nov 25, 2023 | Sample
I’ve never given birth to an actual child, but I’m told the pain of it evaporates as soon as you see your progeny – maybe this feels a little like that(??). This day is coloured by the warm glow of achievement and milestones reached. Handshake8 year one, we are...
by Rachael Chapman | Jun 27, 2023 | Sample
I’m no stranger to working with soft plastic, yet still it surprises me. Honestly, there wasn’t an in-depth thought process to choose a material when Estela asked us to bring along something we had a lot of to the next workshop. A pallet of something had...
by Mia Straka | Dec 12, 2021 | Handshake6, Mia Straka, Sample
The Why and How – Reflecting and Synthesizing Some questions and considerations influencing my data collecting: What data is being collected from us? What information is considered most valuable? Basic information, personal details, accounts, locations,...
by Macarena Bernal | Oct 1, 2021 | Handshake6, Macarena Bernal, Sample
It begins with me spilling out that I’m uncomfortable.She says it’s important that I communicate this to Peter and to everyone else.I tell her that it’s hard to have good ideas in frustration, in despair, in this atmosphere we live in today. That I’m having to fight...
by Mia Straka | Sep 6, 2021 | Handshake6, Mia Straka, Sample
The Where. Leading on from my recent bamboo model making workshop experience with a focus on the architectural scale structure, and considering the concept of Home. I was thinking about what Home is for me, and what it may represent to others including and beyond a...
