Notes on the Top Mark and Resene Award Winners
The first four years in a contemporary jewellery career is a pivotal time. Inevitable and obvious issues confront the maker head-on; finding gallery representation and supplying proven selling pieces, not to mention holding down a day job. These exterior aspects of a practice push and pull new makers in perhaps unexpected directions. Although by no means insurmountable, challenges like this serve to define the committed versus those who will inevitably fall off the radar. A small yet vibrant part of the visual arts sector, contemporary jewellery has grown exponentially in recent years and witnessed a number of New Zealand practitioners establishing national and international reputations. The makers showcased in Handstand provide a fantastic snapshot of just a few talents emerging out the handful of tertiary education programmes in this field, from around the country.
Top Mark Award winner Vaune Mason’s unique work, Control, stands out with its consideration of the jewellery wearer. An intriguing and nostalgic object, the work is not what you would consider typical jewellery. A vintage-looking object resembling a mourning jewellery locket, or a ‘box brownie’ camera, and finished with a sensible leather strap, the wearer of Mason’s work engages in a conceptual manner with the object. In choosing from a selection of portrait images, one of which then peers out of the lens-like porthole, the viewer is perhaps left to ponder; is this a metaphoric device providing us the ability to capture our mood (like a camera) or is it suggesting that one can choose who we mourn on any given day? The truth is slightly different, as the images are of Mason herself, who explains: “I have given over my physical identity as well as my ‘marks’ to this piece. The new owner, over whom I have no control, will be able to decide how I am viewed. They may never meet me in person, but with this piece, they can see an intimate side of me.”
Second place in the Top Mark awards went to Vivien Atkinson, whose series Suite: Illusions addresses bridal jewellery. A universal symbol, the ‘bride’ is synonymous with beauty, purity and of course the always implied air of temporality. In transferring the fragile and undoubtedly highly skilled craft of cake decorating to jewellery, Atkinson engages directly with the discussion of adornment, an issue which resounds more strongly in contemporary jewellery than other art practices.
Winner of the Resene Award, Jhana Miller’s The Charm Bracelet is a witty work which highlights our contemporary obsession with disposable consumer goods. This colourful collection of charms is ironically fashioned from the eminently more recyclable and un-jewellery-like medium of paper.
By the time they have ‘made it’ those who thrive in contemporary jewellery can be considered successful as both fine artist and skilled craftsperson. The emphasis on craft skill is something which needs to be asserted here: skill, in combination with fresh ideas and cogent aesthetic explorations that is. As writer and curator Damian Skinner discusses in his essay (the publication accompanying Handstand will include essays by Damian Skinner and Kevin Murray), developing skill takes time. Skill of course cannot be acquired via a certificate and it takes many years of hard graft in the studio to – hopefully – master the nuances which add the indiscernible polish that can define a successful craft practice. These makers are proving beyond doubt that they are well on their way.
Matt Blomeley (2009 judge of the Top Mark and Resene awards)
HANDSTAND: Unfamiliar and Innovative Contemporary Jewellery
Exhibition dates: 16 – 19 July 2009
Sky City Convention Center
The New Zealand Jewellery Show
www.jewelleryshow.co.nz
Curator Peter Deckers (educator and established contemporary jeweller from Wellington) has brought together the Handstand exhibition, featuring the latest works from participating emerging jewellery artists in a variety of artistic styles and media.
A Bloc Carpentry Matt Blomeley 
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