Handshake 2: Contemporary Jewellers from New Zealand
15 December, 2015 - 14 February, 2016
Master Bedroom
Vanessa Arthur, Collection of Trays (2015), Concrete, copper, aluminium, 925 silver, fine silver, thermo set paint
The HANDSHAKE 2 project is a 2 year progressive mentoring programme for selected contemporary jewellery artists. It offers several national and international exhibitions, professional development and the opportunity to expand and grow each maker’s practice. This group of jewellery artists will showcase exciting new work at Pah Homestead. It will be their fifth and final exhibition and represents the culmination of the two year intensive making programme. Each artist has recorded their development and progress of work and ideas on a blog handshake2.com. It’s a fascinating read for other makers as well as those who want to learn more about jewellery.
Lisa Higgins, One of Seven (Rectangle) (2015), Cinefoil
In the four years since its conception, the HANDSHAKE programme has built a large reputation for excellence and inclusion has been sought by well-known and emerging jewellers from all over New Zealand. The participants are selected through an open call out and the selection panel consisted of internationally renowned experts from diverse art practices.
“It is a fine-tuning process and we have to ask if a mentorship would further the artist’s practice, whether they have the drive to take risks and experiment, and to become a mentee, but also if the chosen mentor has the potential to progress their candidate. This project relies on the developing relationship and the concentrated focus of each mentee in tandem with the generosity and knowledge of the participating mentors.”
The innovative programme is based on the old apprentice system but in reverse, where the mentor works for the mentee with digital media as the vehicle for communication. The mentee has regular feedback sessions with their chosen hero-artist through a virtual workshop window using Skype, blogs, and emails as well as the old-fashioned post to connect. Some also travel overseas to meet their mentors face to face.
In 2014 a fresh group of New Zealand contemporary jewellers began with their chosen hero in the second iteration of the Handshake (HS) mentoring and exhibition program – Handshake 2.
These 11 Handshake artists are: Amelia Pascoe, Karren Dale, Kathryn Yeats, Kelly McDonald, Lisa Higgins, Raewyn Walsh, Renee Bevan, Sarah Walker-Holt, Tineke Jansen, Julia Middleton, Vanessa Arthur and are accordingly mentored by Ruudt Peters (The Netherlands), Gemma Draper (Spain), Ben Pearce (NZ), Kirsten Haydon (Australia), Cal Lane (Canada), Henriette Schuster (Germany), Harrell Fletcher (US), Helen Britton (Germany), Ela Bauer (Nl), Terhi Tolvanen (Finland), David Neale (Australia).
This exhibition was supported by
