Nellie Peoples

Artist statement

I design and make jewellery and small objects that tell stories of beloved people, particular places and special moments.

Bio

My practice is based in contemporary jewellery and small metals. I am based in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. At the core of my practice is the exploration of the connections made between objects and people. I am interested in the mark that the owner of an object contributes to a piece. A thread that runs through my body of work is that cherished objects, in particular jewellery, have the potential to act as a souvenir of special events, beloved people, or particular places.

I have a Bachelor of Design Arts with First Class Honours from the Australian National University (ANU), School of Art (2013). Whilst undertaking a graduate residency at the ANU’s Gold and Silversmithing Workshop, I completed a graduate certificate in Visual Anthropology at ANU in 2014. I also have a Bachelor of Architecture and Applied Science from the University of Canberra (2007).

Nellie Peoples‘ images

Nellie Peoples Leica 28-35-50mm. 2021. Stainless Streel. Image Nellie Peoples

Leica 28-35-50mm. 2021. Stainless Steel

Bifocal series January 2003. 2018. Copper, stainless steel. Image Faun Photograph

Bifocal series January 2003 Detail. 2018. Copper, stainless steel. Image Faun Photograph

Window Series, 2020, sterling silver

Seed Collector Capsicum frutescens Chilli, 2021, sterling silver, 14ct yellow gold

Garden Visitors Brassica oleracea Kale, 2021, sterling silver, steel cable, rubber

Flotsam Morten Bay Series, 2020, Sterling silver, enamel paint

Nellie Peoples Seed Ring Series, 2021, sterling silver. Image Nellie Peoples

Black Mountain, Canberra, Australia. 2018. Sterling silver, stainless steel, reclaimed Canberran timber, rubber, epoxy resin

Blog posts:

Tell me more about ‘Desire Lines’

by Nellie Peoples | November 6, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

This my artwork created for the final Handshake 8 exhibition 'Materlise', present by the Handshake Project at the Artshouse Trust, Pah Homestead, Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau. The exhibition runs from 8 November 2024 - 16 February 2025. The piece is called 'Desire Lines',...

To bead, or no to bead, that is the question…

by Nellie Peoples | September 12, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

Each morning I am in the studio the morning often begins with a question, "to bead, or not to bead...?". Whilst my making and form exploration has been happening on many projects this year, simultaneously, I have been working on an idea that has been bubbling away in...

Drift Lines

by Nellie Peoples | September 1, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

Recently I had a solo exhibition Drift Lines at Masterworks, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. To see the full catalogue please click here. "The beach is made of drift lines, all on different time: the seashell rack lines that dance with the waves; the volcanic...

Form follows material

by Nellie Peoples | August 13, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

In my previous post, ‘Pōhutukawa Play’, I was exploring surface treatments and finishes that I could achieve with the timber. The second part of the exercise given by my mentor, Neke Moa, was to go deeper into the material. Beyond the surface. It was time to explore...

Pōhutukawa play

by Nellie Peoples | June 14, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

At the last catch up that I had with my mentor, Neke Moa, she gave me an exercise to help expand my material knowledge. For this exercise I focused on pōhutukawa timber. I had briefly introduced myself to the material with my previous hand carved timber form studies....

Balancing Act

by Nellie Peoples | May 30, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

Since the beginning of the year I have placed metal aside, for the moment, to explore other materials I have come across in my explorations. On my walks I have been collecting timber, driftwood, stones and shells. I began by focusing on timbers. I have worked with...

All aboard the Mentor-ship

by Nellie Peoples | April 30, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

Whoever wrote the proverb “never meet your [creative] heroes”, obviously had never met Neke Moa. She is my mentor this year for Handshake8. I will not recite the incredible things that Neke has created, exhibited and taught, but I would redirect, and recommend, you to...

My shoes were wet. The tide was changing. We had run out of time.

by Nellie Peoples | April 10, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

I found myself amidst the rocks and seaweed and lapping waves of Karaka Bay following a prompt from Andrea Daly in our History and Theory classes for Handshake 8. We were asked to think about the rules that surround the field of Contemporary Jewellery and in so doing...

The colours of tarnish

by Nellie Peoples | March 26, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

We have had yet another wonderfully thought provoking prompt from Andrea Daly’s Theory and History lecture. We were asked to observe something inanimate over a couple of weeks. We were to pay attention, to see how the inanimate thing changes and evolves, also how it...

Books, books, books

by Nellie Peoples | March 13, 2024 | Handshake8, Nellie Peoples | 0 Comments

In the Handshake 8 journey we have recently begun our Contemporary Jewellery History and Theory classes with the incredible Andrea Daly. It has been wonderful to stretch my brain in the theory space in a much more focused way. One of our first projects for the class...