I am an Auckland based artist working mainly in the field of contemporary jewellery since 2004, based at shared studio, Workshop6.
Jewellery continues to fascinate me for its power to express ideas and thoughts in the physical realm and the ability to communicate on both a personal and public level. Through making and teaching I strive to connect, share skills and investigate what we value, how we engage with each other and our environment.
Through Handshake I plan to work on drawing together the elements of my practice, including jewellery, sculpture, collaboration and community based projects; to distill the what, how, who, where and why.
Mia’s mentor is Manon van Kouswijk.
Mia Straka‘s posts:
Drawing the threads together – Place, Space and Time
contemporary jewellery practice represented through time based media in a virtual landscape
Drawing the threads together – Focus
Empty promises will now be fulfilled in a gush of blog posts to catch up on past busy months! We have been a collective hive of activity, exhibition planning, fundraising doings, online exhibition masterclasses plus personal research, playing, exploring and making....
The making of Many Manos: ChainReaction
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...
Reflections on Signing In: 2020
Dear Blog, Firstly, apologies I have been slack on posting since our Handshake6 exhibition in October/November last year. My life has settled with a new home since then and this is my commitment that I will be better! Before moving forward I want to share my...
Mia Straka‘s images:
Interconnected Planetary Heartstrings necklace 2018, stg, cu, brass, patina. Pendant Dimensions H80mm x W80mm x D25mm. Image courtesy of Fingers Jewellery.
Ouroboros neckware, 2018. Re-used electrical wire L450mm W350mm D150mm. Schmetterlinge exhibition leading on from Berlin i.a.m.tk residency 2018.
The Valere Talisman Project -image from Radiant Pavilion 2017- is an ongoing, interactive, social object project, aimed at questioning and re-affirming a universal code of human rights in a climate of rising global xenophobia and mass population movements. The project aims to encourage more connected, inclusive communities through a sense of personal accountability, collective empowerment and trust.
Talisman3 Installation at Tempfest 2019, Whakanewha Regional Park, Waiheke, NZ.
Building paper, paint, cotton. Together with those present at Tempfest we hung 50 Values banners in the trees at Whakanewha park, a small gesture in acknowledgement of the 50 lives lost in the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15th 2019.
Valere Talisman neckpiece, 2018. Brass, silk and cotton cord. L1000mm x W73mm x D73mm.
Valere Talisman is comprised of twenty-three scrolls, each stamped inside with a different word drawn from tikanga Māori and a global values survey. By wearing the talisman, the intention is to bring the values into being through mindful action. empowerment and trust. Image courtesy of Fingers Jewellery.
Fine Company jewellery installation at Corban Estate Art Gallery 2015, (Oma)
‘Straka’s constellation of neckpieces hangs from a rattan basketry cane structure that also references Pacific navigational stick charts. The structure translates as a star map orientated within the gallery to the four cardinal directions in relation to the Southern Cross star formation. Similarly Straka’s neckpieces map and track her research across cultures’ (excerpt of exhibition text courtesy of CEAC).
