HS6 exhibition: 31 October – 13 November 2020

TE AUAHA art gallery, 65 Dixon Street,  Wellington, New Zealand. Opening event Friday 30 October, 2020, 5:30pm

SIGNING IN presents the twelve emerging artists  who have signed-up for a two-year commitment to HANDSHAKE 6. This group started in January 2020, initiating their creative processes with a masterclass from US based artist Iris Eichenberg. SIGNING IN reflects the participants’ work as a group since the start of their mentorship and marks the halfway point of their two-year journey. Here you will see an emphasis on process as much as ‘finished’ work, an opportunity to catch a glimpse of ideas in their nascent phase, with many options and opportunities yet to emerge.

The title SIGNING IN also gives a nod to this exceptional year of the coronavirus, and there is perhaps evidence of this in some of the work. Also, we acknowledge participant Aphra Cheeseman, whose work is present, even as she remains in lockdown in Melbourne at the time of writing.

Special thanks to all the HANDSHAKE 6 mentors and artists who have contributed to the ongoing development of the current participants, and whose time, energy and knowledge are all evident in the show.

        Simon Swale

        Simon Swale

 Image: Gate (Shadow), 2020. PVA foam. 2110 x 510 x 10mm and variable

This work explores our subjective relationship to the world from both physical and phenomenological perspectives. I have attempted to create objects, which when interacted with create an embodied knowing of the world through a renegotiating of subject and object. The wearing of these objects is interactive, activating space, the senses and the body. Gates and Gateways offer the experience of liminal space and the crossing of thresholds- I perceive these works as portals to new spaces- physical, psychological and emotional.

 Image: Gate (Shadow), 2020. PVA foam. 2110 x 510 x 10mm and variable

This work explores our subjective relationship to the world from both physical and phenomenological perspectives. I have attempted to create objects, which when interacted with create an embodied knowing of the world through a renegotiating of subject and object. The wearing of these objects is interactive, activating space, the senses and the body. Gates and Gateways offer the experience of liminal space and the crossing of thresholds- I perceive these works as portals to new spaces- physical, psychological and emotional.

      Aphra Cheesman

    This series is a result of an ongoing practice of observing and collecting in daily life. I seek out encounters that have occurred between objects and the body and in doing so, reflect on how we connect with the world in a corporeal and tactile sense.

    This series is a result of an ongoing practice of observing and collecting in daily life. I seek out encounters that have occurred between objects and the body and in doing so, reflect on how we connect with the world in a corporeal and tactile sense.

      Macarena Bernal

image: Pantone rings, series of 5, 2020. Powder coated bronze, polymer resin, pigments

Wanting to address social inequality by means of jewellery, I began researching skin colour. This confronting and thought-provoking subject is exposing me to uncomfortable truths such as unfounded perceptions, divisive beauty and pre-conceived value.

Observing, mimicking, selecting, organizing and threading skin tones in the shape of beads to later wear, is revealing the limitations of my own skin colour and the inequality I have experienced as a Latino immigrant in NZ.

image: Degrade necklace, 2020. Polymer resin, pigments, sterling silver, magnet, trimmer line

      Fran Leitch

“I have always found solace and purpose in the act of formulating my thoughts, memories, dreams, and ideologies into tangible forms.  My ancestors were lace makers, seamstresses, weavers and goldsmiths; I feel their hands pushing upon my back every day when I work.

The work I’am currently absorbed in for the HS6 honours and quietly tells the feminine narratives which have been passed down in my family for generations. Some narratives you can see directly in the work, while others I only hold in my heart and mind as I sew, this process creates an ambiguous reading, telling a story with out telling it…!  

image: Sleeves, 2021. Cotton, linen thread. 3m x300mm

Nina van Duijnhoven

• My work revolves around environmental issues and spiritual beliefs such as impermanence and non-attachment. I want to explore non-attachment to material possessions, emotions, ideas and opinions, to jewellery owned and worn.
• If we can embrace impermanence on a spiritual level, we create freedom.  Paper by its ephemeral nature symbolizes transience. How will the short-term life span of paper jewellery affect the relationship the wearer has with the piece? Will it be enjoyed fully while it lasts, or will it mostly be treasured in a drawer?
•  

My work revolves around environmental issues and spiritual beliefs such as impermanence and non-attachment. I want to explore non-attachment to material possessions, emotions, ideas and opinions, to jewellery owned and worn.

If we can embrace impermanence on a spiritual level, we create freedom.  Paper by its ephemeral nature symbolizes transience. How will the short-term life span of paper jewellery affect the relationship the wearer has with the piece? Will it be enjoyed fully while it lasts, or will it mostly be treasured in a drawer?

      Susan Videler

image: Clench, 2020, brooch. Oxidised copper, silk, wire, 100 x 60 x 50mm

We are immersed in a web of visible and invisible threads and knots of attachment and thinking. These patterns and responses influence our physical and mental wellbeing.

My work explores through texture, form and colour the nuances of entanglement.

Mia Straka

For the last four months I have been documenting my time with daily diagrams, a meditative and anchoring practice in these unstable times. I am interested in how we might record different types of information; emotions, intuition and abstract thought alongside logistics. Translating this information into the three dimensional is where I’m at now, using branches found from my immediate environment as existing structures.

Amelia Rothwell

Stones. On the ground and of the ground. Grounded; grounding. Hand objects.

Materials:  Stone, EPNS, soap, Kauri wood, cotton, tissue, felt, lint, resin, oxidised silver.

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