Participants (see their progress)
- Becky Bliss
- Nadene Carr
- Kirstin D’Agostino
- Lisa Higgins
- Nik Hanton
- Mandy Flood
- Caroline Thomas
- Aphra Cheesman
- Nina van Duijnhoven
- Mia Straka
- Raewyn Walsh
- Simon Swale
HS7 activities 
HANDSHAKE 7 activities
The HS7 activity programme aims to provoke creative development through experimentation and endeavour.
The HS7 group started with a masterclass series over ZOOM with Estela Saez Vilanova from Barcelona. Estella’s workshop sessions stretched till mid-June and pushed the HS7 artists with a variety of assignments.
The motivation of her masterclass is to search for inspiration, understand it, and when needed, apply it as a gathered experience to the working process of the artist. The HS7 artists revisited their usual making processes through a well-balanced comprehension of the conscious & unconscious phenomena, in an attempt to somehow merge the two.
After the intensive masterclass sessions of Estella Saez, each of the HS7 artists explored the discoveries and possible options for producing a new body of work for the MARZEE exhibition.
Next to the artistic development, a series of feedback sessions with coaches was planned for professional responses to the developing exhibition work of the HS7 artists.
The selection of international coaches picked by MARZEE was Iris Bodemer, Katharina Dettar, and Annelies Planteijdt. They gave multiple pieces of feedback during the second half of 2022 with their expertise and knowledge. Each of the feedback sessions was open to other HS7 artists, with learning opportunities for all.
The overall overseer of the HS7 group is curator and writer Sarah McClintock from Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History (NZ).
Sarah’s role is to act as a surrogate for the audience, a kind of medium that connects the public and the artist. With her experience in writing and speaking about contemporary jewellery, Sarah provided insight and assistance that guided the HS7 artists in crafting the right words for their artist statements, alongside their creation of the exhibition work.
HS7 blog posts
The pursuit of efficiency will drain your life of meaning* series 2022
*Oliver Burkeman, Sam Harris podcast #289 Time management for mortals approx 22:29 minutes I’m interested in how we experience, value and record time. As a social medium adornment has the potential to act as catalyst, conduit and communicator in this realm. I invited...
A Stitch in Time 2022
Spending time with a material that is bound for landfill might seem futile, or the conscious act of repair. Producing something that sits lightly on the body but holds a silent heavy narrative. A small act of personal activism in uncertain times. This work developed...
Reflecting on the Estela Saez workshop
I love loose organic forms. I like detailed moments. I like to cut and fold. Attending Estela’s workshop was such a gift and a wild journey. I with both feet did the assignments with full commitment and reckless abandon. The outcomes were not all good, but they were...
The garden of earthly delights
The final part of the Handshake 7 programme saw 3 artists from Galerie Marzee look over our work, over zoom, and offer a critical response. From the private spaces of our homes and studio spaces, we shared processes, concepts, and contexts and received generous, if...
Gallery Marzee presents: HandShake 7
HandShake 7 12 NZ jewellery artists 04-Dec-2022 till 11-02-2023 HS7 final exhibition is at galerie Marzee (curator Marie-José van Hout), Nijmegen, the Netherlands, opening ceremony Su 4 December 2022. HS7 artist, Mia Straka, represents the HS7 artists and HS...
