‘CHAINreaction: Handshakes at the Refinery’ exhibition
& ‘HS Archival Moments’ exhibit 

27 Mar – 17 Apr 2021

The Refinery ArtSpace, 114 Hardy Street, Nelson

CHAINreaction celebrates 10 years of the HANDSHAKE project. 49 artists who have been directly and indirectly associated with the project have all made a HANDSHAKE by contributing to a continuous necklace. Each link will be a highlight and celebrates connectivity and communication.

Becky Bliss | Nadene Carr | Jess Winchcombe | Sarah Read | Sharon Fitness | Gillian Deery | Neke Moa | Kristin D’Agostino | Lisa Higgins | Kathryn Yeats | Nik Hanton | Mandy Flood | Caroline Thomas | Kylie Sinkovich | Kim Whalen | Sandra Schmid | Jen Laracy | Brendon Monson | Maca Bernal | Aphra Cheesman | Fran Leitch | Nina van Duijnhoven | Michelle Wilkinson | Jack Hadley | Mia Straka | Amelia Rothwell | Nikki Perry | Antonia Boyle | Sam Kelly | Susan Videler | Raewyn Walsh | Nadine Smith | Katie Pascoe | Lynsay Raine | Simon Swale | Renee Bevan | Peter Deckers | Kelly McDonald | Vernon Bowden | Andrea Daly | Ben Pearce | Octavia Cook | Lisa Walker | Karl Fritsch | Judy Darragh | Regan Gentry | Warwick Freeman | Alan Preston | Gina Matchitt |

 

CLICK here for exhibition images

CLICK here for exhibition review

 

ARTIST STATEMENTS:

Sandra Schmid

Breath
Steel Wire

My work stems from the fascination of the human body and our controversial behaviour towards the environment.

As the world population and subsequently pollution increases, will clean air become a valuable trading asset in the future. While air in general still is freely available, a market to purchase clean air in canisters has already been established.

This chain is based on the human lung capacity. Each cube reflects the capacity of an average breath.

Aphra Cheesman

Chairs
2021
Mild steel, furniture paint

Like jewellery, chairs are made for the body and exist in close proximity with it. Chairs can act as a stand in for people – an empty chair can hold the presence of a person who once

occupied it. When chairs sit in a group there is a suggestion of multiple people together; conversations, collaborations, community.

As artists and jewellers, we often spend time sitting and making in our workshops. For this project, I was interested to get to know the

workshop chairs of my fellow HS6ers. I considered how our workshop chairs could offer an insight into an everyday and perhaps overlooked aspect of each maker’s practice.

Each section of this neckpiece is made in response to an individual maker’s chair from HANDSHAKE 6.

The final two sections, at each end of the necklace, respond to the chair of the artist whose work it is then connected to in CHAINreaction.

Karl Fritsch

2021

Kelp and copper

Die Kette stink manchmal , smelly chain , smelly chain.

Instagram: @karlfritschrings

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Caroline Thomas

Isambard
Polymer clay, oxidised copper wire, 18ct gold wedding ring

This chain is inspired by the historic tradition of Victorian mourning jewellery, specifically that made from Whitby jet which was highly prized in the second half of the nineteenth

century in England. Ornate and heavy chains, brooches and earrings were complemented by heavy black dresses, shoes, umbrellas, bonnets and veils.

Taking the jet jewellery as inspiration  I played with scale, decoration and the abstract notion of mourning and its heavy emotional weight. My chain is on a large and impractical scale that can be worn but you would never forget you had it on, rather as the memory of a deceased loved one can never be erased from your life.

One end of the chain is connected to its neighbour by means of a wedding ring which, until she died just over six months ago, was worn by my mother for nearly sixty years.

Vernon Bowden

Invader III: Fever Dreams
Lei
2020
Soap
Crayons
A birdcage
Lotus flower tea
My supermarket receipts

 “There is sweet music here that softer falls Than petals from blown roses on the grass,

Or night-dews on still waters between walls

Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass; Music that gentlier on the spirit lies, Than tir’d eyelids upon tir’d eyes;

Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies.

Here are cool mosses deep,

And thro’ the moss the ivies creep,

And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,

And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.”

 

The Lotos-eaters, (excerpt)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1832

Brendon Monson

Yank the Chain
2021
CNC carved rimu, brass

Yank the Chain is my response to the tradition of folk craftwork that demonstrates one’s moral fortitude through epically laborious & skillfully demanding “functional” objects.

Mia Straka

Many Manos
2021
Bamboo, repurposed beads, brass, steel wire, enamel paint, natural dye

Many hands make light work Know like the back of your hand Put your hands together

Cold hands warm heart Show of hands

Dab hand First Hand Hand in hand Hands on Heavy handed Old hand

Out of hand Under hand Change hands Hand over Hands full Hands tied

In safe hands Try your hand Hands down Second hand In good hands Helping hand On hand

Get your hands dirty

Hand over fist

On the other hand In your hands

Octavia Cook

Worn Out
2020/21
Denim, leather, copper, thread

‘Worn out’ could describe how humans feel after the past year… It is also the physical condition of my favourite jeans, which after patching and repairing for a few years, finally gave up in 2020.

Fresh with hope for a new year, they get one last chance as links in a chain. This denim reconstruction is aided by alternate loops of (hand forged) copper nails, salvaged from an unsuccessful chain I made for a show in 2008. Together, the ‘worn out’ items can now be worn out in public!

Judy Darragh

Homage
2021
Raffia, wire, wool, plastic

Homage is a nod to the tradition of the lei, the wool and raffia references the materials commonly used

in Pasifika art practices. Large plastic balls are wired together making this piece to heavy for the wall, it sits on the floor “dragging down” the two adjoining chains, Homage holds its ground as a sculptural form.

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Becky Bliss

Temperature change in the Pacific, 1900–2021
2021
Mild steel, paint

Temperature change in the Pacific, 1900–2021 charts temperature change in the Pacific region over the course of around 120 years.

As a result of the change in temperature, global sea level rise began around the start of the 20th century. Between 1900 and 2016, the globally averaged sea level rose by 160–210 mm.

Measurements showed a rise of 75 mm from 1993 to 2017.

Between 1993 and 2018, the melting of glaciers (21%); Greenland (15%); and

Antarctica (8%) contribute to 42% of sea level rise. The rate is expected to accelerate during the 21st century.

A conservative estimate of the long-term projections is that each degree (C) of temperature rise triggers a sea level rise of approximately 2.3 meters. Sustained global warming of 2–4°C could cause a global average sea-level rise of about 7 metres.

Each metre of the necklace represents a metre of increase in sea level

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level_rise.

Kylie Sinkovich

Family Tree
2021
Brachychiton acerifolius (Flame Tree), resin, acrylic paint, muka fibre, embroidery thread

Will all the thorns ever fall?

As time can aid in fading raw emotions, the ever-changing quality of nature’s raw materials reflects this feeling state of being.

Healing is an enduring journey that only the individual has the power to choose. Art has been one of my cathartic pathways through this passage.

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Jack Hadley

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ chain
Chain
2021
Anodized aluminium

I like the decorative language of boy-racer cars. The way boy-racers accessorize their cars with pearlescent paint, chromed wheels and dangling rear-view mirror ornaments make me think about jewellery.

For this exhibition, I wanted to make a chain that drew upon the aesthetics of custom car culture. The aluminium links of this chain are colour anodized, a decorative process that is used to customise car components.

Each link in this chain is in the form of an interlocking letter J. Like, J for Jack.

There are 22 links and the chain is descriptively titled JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ chain, with 22 Js. It is a sloppy joke, but I thought it was kind of funny to say this out loud.

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Sam Kelly

Big bone beaded necklace
2021
Cow bone, nylon, oxidised copper

I have been using bone as my primary material for the last  13 years. Originally cutting and creating new forms, I’m now exploring the many different

surface effects that can be reached, while not conforming to traditional bone carving parameters. My practice jumps between jewellery and sculpture, each practice informing and pushing the other.

I asked to be ‘shaking hands’ with my mentor from Handshake 1, Octavia Cook. I first made bone jewellery in a workshop with Octavia and out of nostalgia, respect and curiosity, I asked her to be my mentor. For this piece, rather than creating a traditional chain, I decided to utilise the idea of oversized beads for my necklace for a wall.

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Kristin D’Agostino

The shape of celebration
2021
High-density polyethylene, lacquer, cotton

Joyful activism and experimentation with recycled material has inspired this chain, “The shape of celebration”. I am honoured to have had the chance to learn from so many brave, positive jewellers and artists. The artists I link with in this project bookend my practice. My first teacher was Octavia Cook and my Handshake mentor was

Judy Darragh.   “The shape of celebration” is an expression of gratitude for their bold influence and kind tutelage.

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Lisa Higgins

Breathe in Hold on Exhale (x2)
2021
Grosgrain ribbon, waxed cord

Life is amazing.

And then it’s awful.

And then it’s amazing again.

And in between the amazing and awful,

it’s ordinary and mundane and routine.

Breathe in the amazing, hold on through

the awful, and relax and exhale

during the ordinary. That’s just living.

Heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing,

awful, ordinary life. And it’s

breathtakingly beautiful.

– L.R. Knost

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Raewyn Walsh

Meditation Lei, 2021
Kowhai seeds, silk thread, safety pins

The Handshake Project has been an exceptional experience of mentoring, collaboration, and focused making.

While making my section of the Handshake chain, I think about my mentors (real and imagined), fellow participants, and, of course, Peter and Hilda.

Thank you all!

 

Andrea Daly

53 hours and 30 minutes
Glass Beads, Thread

This chain is made up of beginnings and endings. Each statement a link. An ongoing life-times work that started during 2020. ‘Once Upon A Time’ = 2hrs 50min and ‘The End’= 2hrs of my life. Someone else will have to tie it off for me.

Belonging to the prayer bead genus. The mantra of this chain is the lifeblood of my childhood, constant linking to the past, ideas, people, places and futures. It is both terrifying and full of promise.

The unfinished end will intertwine for a period with the chain of my neighbour. Another link.

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Susan Videler

The Preservation of Memory
2021
Beeswax, linen, cotton, silk

I am exploring memory. The Preservation of Memory is a homage to the textile rituals I associate with the dining of yesteryear. Hand embroidered and crocheted linens and lace napkins, tablecloth and

doilies have been dipped in beeswax, used to preserve food and in candle form to decorate and light the table. Women not only preserved and prepared food but created elaborate and labour-intensive works of art on the palettes of tablecloths, napkins, cotton throws, and doilies. These are memories of a time when families ate at the table and the handmade was necessary and valued. In keeping with this convention and the premise of a chain I have joined the textiles with the basic crochet stitch, chain stitch, in silk jeweller’s thread. The work measures 2.5 metres, the length of my dining table. I anticipate joining Nadine and Sandra with a simple piece of waxed linen.

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Macarena Bernal

Party & Festive
Discarded inflatable toys

“Party & Festive” is the Trademe category under which I found the right material to blow up my Maca Links.

Renee Bevan

Renee Bevan, Shane Hartdegen, Andrea Daly, Nadene Carr, Soo Jeong Lee, Lisa Woods, Amelia Rothwell, Sandra Schmid, Chris Charteris, Tania Patterson, Jane Dodd, Peter Deckers, Roy Mason, Ann Culy, Fran Allison, Rebecca Yeats, Sharon Fitness, Johanna Zellmer, Lynsay Raine, Cindy Tan, Sarah Walker-Holt, Jack Hadley, Tatjana Panyoczki, Kristin D’Agostino, Vivien Atkinson, Jennifer Laracy, Sam Kelly, Mandy Flood, Octavia Cook, Rainer Beneke, Nikki Perry, Peter McKay, Kay van Dyk, Grace Yu Piper, Cath Dearsley, Michelle Wilkinson, Macarena Bernal, Kobi Bosshard, Ilse-Marie Erl, Alan Preston, Warwick Freeman, Neke Moa, Vanessa Arthur, Rachel Bell, Jasmine Te Hira, Nik Hanton, Simon Swale, Ross Malcolm, Nina van Duijnhoven, Raewyn Walsh, Sarah Read, Craig McIntosh, Debbie Adamson, Caroline Thomas, Tara Brady, Susan Videler, Katie Pascoe, Dorothy de Lautour, Phillipa Gee, Stella Chrysostomou, Shelley Norton, Laura Jer, Anna Wallis, Fran Carter, Mary Curtis, Becky Bliss, Jessica Winchcombe, Karl Fritsch, Lisa Walker, Elfi Spiewack, Lynn Kelly, Tracy Watson, Jhana Millers, Ben Flynn, Moniek Schrijer, Victoria McIntosh, Kim Whalen.

Untitled 2021 – (ongoing)

Silver

A chain, made by a community (ongoing).

‘Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini’ My success is not mine alone, it is the success of the collective’ (Whakatuaki/Maori Proverb)

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Lynsay Raine

Regenerate Neckpiece
Aluminium, nylon cord

Communication, particularly in the here and now has always fascinated me. One positive that has arisen out of the current world events, is that many of us are getting in touch with loved ones more.

I love that jewellery can be a great ice breaker for creating conversation and in turn often results in learning something new about the wearer and where the piece of jewellery came from.

In an age where video chatting has become the norm, I thought back to some of the most basic forms of communication that have been

used in times of urgency. I chose to use morse code to communicate a message in my chain that will prompt some reflection relevant for today. My chain spells ‘Regenerate’. I feel this word is important to focus on when considering how we adapt to current changing situations, in the world, our lives and perhaps our own practice.

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Antonia Boyle

Screwed together
2021
Sterling silver, Beef bone, lamb bone

My practice explores the barriers of the body

through the use of bone as a material. Placing bone,

which references the internal body, onto the external body reminds us of how fragile the barrier of the body is. The screws in this work express medical intervention on

the body, whilst appearing brutal, it’s function is to heal and aid the body. The bones being arranged in slices sizing down showcases the natural form of the bone itself. The bone pieces in this work remain relatively unaltered leaving intact the more fragile internal/trabecular bone, encased in the solid cortical bone.

 

Kim Whalen

Roundness
Harakeke, Pīngao, beeswax, 9ct Gold

As the Yang lines grow in strength, it is important to properly control, and guide the energy or it will rise too rapidly, creating chaos. Similarly,

without winter Yin cultivation, Spring will bring anger, frustration, and impatience as the Yang energy rises. When these opposite energies work in unison the way nature dictates, there is a perfect balance and link together to make a complete whole circle, to be in complete harmony.

Balancing opposites in my work and life is how I like DO and BE. Lately I have been trying to find a balance within my jewellery practise between

my hand picked all-natural sustainable materials and that of the opposite, Gold. Clean or Dirty. Soft and Hard. Duality or Non-Duality. Pros and cons. Of this land and colonization. Augment or deplete.