Working on these pieces was a bit of an emotional challenge but also came very naturally as they are based on my childhood garden in South Africa where I grew up. I wanted to express how a place can feel and be immensely safe and creative but can also hold fear and uncertainty. After receiving a few questions, I realized that this may require a bit more explanation as not everyone grew up where I did.
Read MoreFrom May to July of this year I will be in a group exhibition at Craft ACT involving JamFactory metal staff, tenants and associates. The exhibition is entitled Small Connections and I responded to the title and made five works.
Read MoreJamFactory has been my home for a few years as an associate and as a tenant but I am ready to settle into a new studio called Mixed Goods! Started in 2020 by my partner Andrew Carvolth and his business partner Dean Toepfer Mixed Goods Studios offers studio spaces for multidisciplinary craft and design practitioners.
Read MoreOut of all the gems used in jewellery manufacture pearls are the only precious material that come from a living organism. Thankfully organisms that don’t have feeling but can produce life. Almost 100% of pearls are cultured today, natural pearls only account for 1/1000th percent of pearls that are marketable today
Read More10% of the sales made from the Tiny Treasures Collection will go towards Sisters Inside, an organisation run by Debbie Kilroy.
This organisation aims to help women and families within the criminal justice system. This organisation recognises that criminalisation is often related to intergenerational problems of violence, poverty, unemployment and health issues. First Nations women and girls are hugely over-represented in the system. Aboriginal people represent 3% of Australia’s population yet make up 29% of the prison population.
Read MoreWhen we say someone is a ‘pearl’ we mean to say they are rare and of great worth. Now that they are widely cultured the rarity can be questioned, their worth is dependent on where they are from and how perfect their surface nacre is.
The worth of one person being weighed more over another seems like an old, unfair and out-dated historical fact.
Read MoreNo Grit, No Pearl
In a time where things are feeling a bit weird and gritty I’ve been unable to steam ahead with my making as per normal. My concentration has been a bit haywire and I suppose because the future is a bit of a large flaming question mark creating stock or looking towards future orders seems a little futile or incomprehensible at this point.
Read MoreI have a habit of feeling left behind, seeing other people and makers achieve so much, forgetting my own achievements and feeling like I need to catch up or push that extra bit harder. With COVID-19 came new mantras – ‘if not now when?’ And ‘everything you’ve always never had the time to do – this tests whether time was the problem or if you were.’
As someone with a propensity for feeling comparatively less than this is has not been a great time for my brain and therefore my creative abilities, as I’m sure others are feeling too.
Read MoreI’ve recently been noticing how women have been seen or represented in art, history and in many cultures. Muses often depict whimsied sprite-like females with little or no backstory or narrative who have inspired male artists of great acclaim. The original Muses were originally goddesses in Greek mythology responsible for the arts, literature and science. They were created by the union of Zeus and Mnemosyne the goddess of memory. I think its time we reclaim this particular memory – of women only being seen through the gaze of men.
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