CONTEMPORARY NEW ZEALAND JEWELLERY

28 June - 10 July 2004

'The SOUTH Project'

The SOUTH Project is a series of events over 4 years designed to link together the cultural energies of the south beginning formally with a gathering on 1-4 July 2004 at the Sidney Myer Asia Centre, Melbourne.

This curated exhibition of selected New Zealand Jewellery Artists is Fingers contribution.

Chris Charteris

"There is a certain satisfaction exploring rhythm when doing repetitious work. No matter where you live in the world we all work to universal rhythms."
Chris Charteris, 2004

Te Kouma Pohatu, Basalt Breastplate, Waiwawa river, $800

Golden Lei, Paper Oysters, Kaiaua, $1000

Pacific Celebration, Dyed Bone, Nylon, Mother of Pearl $900

Jane Dodd

"A southerly journey past cold lands and icy structures"
Jane Dodd, 2004

1. Albatross bracelet $1100

2. South bracelet $NFS

3. Disappointment Island bangle, $400

4, 5, 6. Iceberg brooches, $100 each

9. Iceberg ring, $210, 7, 8. Iceberg rings, $180 each, 10. Iceberg ring, $210

Rings 10, 9, shown open. All pieces sterling silver

John Edgar

"I have always been intrigued by the cardinal points, those fixed compass bearings that align us in everything we do, so powerful and dominating of all life - animal, vegetable and mineral - yet so illusive that we imagine that higher intelligence has excused us from their influence. They originate in the earth's magnetic flux that is all pervasive - even the tiniest organisms are under its influence, and so are we. I love the idea that at the two true centres, at the still points about which everthing turns, there is a survey mark. Some confirmation that we are there, we have found it, and that we know where we are; North and South, the oppositions, the poles apart."
John Edgar, 2004

"Poles Apart", two stones, granite and marble with crosses, each stone diameter 90 x 40mm, $1,500

Warwick Freeman

1. White Bird, corian $1000
2. White Bird, corian $1000
3. White Bird, corian $1000

Jason Hall

"Cast from a musket ball dug up from the battlefields of the New Zealand Wars by zealous amateur historian-collectors, the pendant is silver, just right for slaying the myth of One New Zealand. Perfect for the Paakehaa who wonders why we all can't just get along, it is a piece of jewellery that neatly turns the bullet around, aiming it forward in time to the descendants of those who fired the first shots back in the 19th century.
Hall's jewellery is ultimately about minding your Ps and Qs. Paakehaa have everything because we have ridden roughshod over the host/guest relationship that should structure interaction between Maaori and Paakehaa. Paakehaa are manuhiri, foreigners, not tangata whenua, people of the land, and no amount of pretending otherwise is going to eradicate the instability of identity caused by what is the social equivalent of behaving badly in someone else's home. Hall's jewellery, these Ornaments for the Paakehaa, are hard to wear because they force the wearer to take some responsibility, to accept historical consequences. For the most part, these are troubling ornaments, not unambiguous statements to be worn with pride."
Damian Skinner "Ornament for the Pakeha" Jewellery by Jason Hall, 2004

9 x fabric name badges;

white, european, new zealander, kiwi, pakeha,
atua, tangata tiriti, manuhiri, tauiwi.
$35.00 each.

4 x gun pendants;

large heart, 12 gauge shotgun barrel, linen cord
$650.00

small heart, small calibre gun barrel, linen cord
$450.00

small heart, open

.58 cal ball, 2 pure silver .58 cal. musket balls,
linen cord
$350.00

rifled ball, single pure silver rifled musket ball,
linen cord
$350.00

Niki Hastings-McFall

"Traditionally Lei were made from environmental detritus using multiple repetitive units. The urban lei series continues to use these principles of manufacture however the change of environment from the idyllic South Seas paradise to a 21st century urban reality sees a radical change in materials. Gone are the shells, seeds, leaves and fresh blooms. Plastic, metals, paper and suburban detritus are the new urban Polynesian resources."
Niki Hastings-McFall, 2004

2 Lei. Recycled plastic soy sauce containers, silver wire, fishing tackle, $2,800 each

Lynn Kelly

"New Zealand like all colonized countries contains a mixture of the indigenous and the introduced. The kiwi stamp combines the native bird with the European postal system. Stewart Island has natural deposits of tin, identified by Professor J G Black in 1889 which started the tin rush for both Maori and Pakeha. Goldie painted his portraits of Maori when it was believed they were a dying race. The traces of New Zealand's colonized history can be found in humble objects. These objects are like coordinates in the mapping of our cultural path."
Lynn Kelly, 2004

Fern Pair, $500

Tin Range brooch, Stg silver, tin, aluminium, $330

Kiwi stamp brooch, Stg silver, aluminium, $285

Goldie in his studio Stg silver, aluminium, gold leaf $410,

Chest pendant/cricket Enamel, shell, aluminium $450

Alan Preston

"This series began with the title. Walking along Muriwai Beach. Events have superceded it and it has become part of the Foreshore Fragment series. So for the South Project we have Black Foreshore at Fingers and White Foreshore at Craft Victoria in Melbourne."
Alan Preston, 2004

Black Foreshore Fragment Pins, Shell fragments, Silver, $185 each.

White Foreshore Fragment Pins, Shell fragments, Silver

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