Michelle Wilkinson sits at the cross-roads of art, science and communication. By incorporating her background in natural history with contemporary jewellery, she creates work that translates scientific research and experiences into objects and encounters that tell stories and sit within the heads of those involved long after they leave the room. She references the concepts of hybridity, biodiversity loss, extinction, and the biological consequences of the Anthropocene in her practice and often involves the public in the creative process. She recently completed a Masters of Fine Arts at the Dunedin School of Art and has shown her work both nationally and internationally. Her mentor for Handshake6 is Catherine Truman.
Michelle Wilkinson‘s posts:
Head, Hands and Heart: Part 3 – Consider our invertebrates
Everyone can contribute to preserving biodiversity – the actions we take every day shape the environments around us, the ecosystems around us; what we choose to consume, how we transport ourselves, what we are doing in our backyards, or what we are not doing, all of these actions have an impact.
As a maker I need to examine my material choices.
Head, Hands and Heart: Part 2 – Hands
To escape from my head, I began to engage my hands. I started using what was stashed in my workshop - wire, paper, thread. These didn't give me what I wanted, they were too considered and not organic enough for me. I then discovered an unopened pack of...
Head, Hands and Heart : Part 1 – Head
Up until now my work has often been quite literal – forms are easily identified, stories are quickly understood. The experimental nature of Handshake has presented me with an opportunity to push myself into a different kind of outcome.
Through the looking glass, and what Alice found there
This new world is different. Just like Lewis Carroll’s Alice in 1872, we are now submerged in a backwards place. Busy roads are quiet, concert halls silent, and galleries are closed. Time is not quite running backwards, but it is going at a slower pace.
Michelle Wilkinson‘s images:
Total of 61 mourning brooches, a selection of which are included here, photographed by project volunteers in the areas where the birds once lived around New Zealand.
