Vessels – Raewyn Walsh 2010
Fine silver, oxidised silver, copper, paint, graphite powder, surgical steel
See comments for all wearers feedback. Latest comment by Dan (25 April, 2011):
Month 3
To be honest a Broach Month of fits and starts – got it late and swung into action – loved the texture and colors – & envisaged the way I could wear ‘them’ in a variety of ways. But…put then on several times, but on most of my jackets, they didn’t quite work. Either a tad heavy, or a bit crowded on a slim lapel, so they had a few thwarted outings. Wore them to an A.R.T Trust meeting so they got their outing the other day.
So feel a bit guilty that Broach x3 didn’t spend much time out of the box – didn’t help that I was wearing my leather jacket most of the month because of the cold….
Dan
The “Vessels” had three outings in their first week but, like Christine, my colleagues are rather used to my adornments so it was only my art-aligned colleagues/friends who noticed the exquisiteness of said Vessels. These are also people who know of my long-since-gone days as a biology teacher and took the brooches (since I have three to wear!) to be part of my existing collection – the ‘organic’ almost echinoderm-esque nature of them is exactly the sort of thing I would normally buy/wear.
So the Vessels have been viewed by hundreds across different parts of Auckland and by different parts of the education sector – primary, secondary and tertiary – but alas, in the politically charged world of National Standards, conversations about aesthetically pleasing objects don’t tend to surface – pity!
Jenny
It was good to see so many broach wearers and brooches at the Objectspace ‘Best in Show’ opening last Friday night. It was also a wonderful opportunity to see other work by my current brooch maker, Raewyn Walsh. Raewyn had described her work to me at the Broach of the Month launch and her new work lived up to every expectation (and then some!). There is so much about Raewyn’s work I connect with I don’t know where to start! I’ll have to go and look at it again without the crowds of people around and try and make a list of the many reasons why I like it so much. What I will say is that I feel a little diversion looming – away from buying ceramics to buying metal objects …. I have long had a soft spot for hand crafted metal but like a lot of object making it seems to come in and out of ‘fashion’ or favour depending on the broader influences in object making like education, the exhibition and promotion of objects by galleries, and what editors choose to feature in publications. On that note, the latest Australian Craftarts magazine (just arrived) has some stunning (metal) architectural jewellery by Vicki Ambery-Smith which added to my thoughts this week around metal objects.
My object buying has always favoured creations made of materials that come from the earth (or are made directly of earth) that are somehow changed or formed by heat, that is, that the resulting object is ceramic, glass or metal. Consequently, my first brooch has been a very unchallenging work to wear (and I say that respectfully and very thankfully given the climate in which I currently and temporarily work – the comfort and familiarity with Raewyn’s “Vessels” is somehow reassuring). My colleagues’ assumptions that they are part of my established collection continue to prevail. I guess the comment to be made here then is that I trust I will be ‘challenged’ by at least some of the non-metal BOM offerings in the months to come – it will give me something else to write about!
The slight autumnal chill now in the morning air means that a jacket is required attire for stepping out to work at that early hour of the day. The trio that are “Vessels” have made a home on one jacket in particular which I seem to wear every other day. Old habits have quickly been adopted whereby I assign a particular brooch to a particular piece of clothing so it becomes part of the decoration of that garment. This by the way is admission of an excuse to have a new and different outfit for every one of the pieces of jewellery to follow … the sewing machine will continue to have reason to take up space in my house (instead of making more room for displaying objects) …. I may even find myself wearing pink again for the first time in over 40 years!
See you all at the swap over in April.
Regards
Jenny
With the first BOM month rapidly disappearing I thought I would have a girly-swat moment and attempt some diary entries using the prompts provided by the BOM organisers. I have no intention of taking up space here responding to all 18 questions, but one question in particular interested me which I hope other broach wearers might respond to and contribute their thoughts online. That question is the one that reads “How do you think that the construction techniques that the maker used affect the way you value the brooch? Did it affect the brooch’s visual interest?”
Responding to this question challenges the notion of ‘value’ and what is it that is ‘valued’ in a piece of jewellery. I’m thinking these ideas will evolve with each brooch …… These are first thoughts. I tend to place a different sense of value on objects depending on whether it is something I have made (or could make) myself, or whether the object is made using construction techniques beyond my skill set. It is not a question of something having greater or lesser value but a ‘different sense’ of value, although it is difficult to pin down just what the essence of this ‘different sense’ is about. This warrants exploration which I’ll start here and develop across the year. Working first of all with an understanding of the meaning of ‘value’ … what we ‘value’ is about what we place importance upon, something to which we assign a sense of worth, something of significance.
As highlighted in the 30/03/2010 blog entry, my object buying (inclusive of jewellery) has always favoured objects I cannot/do not make myself, in particular objects made of earth (ceramic), glass or metal (ie objects made from substances derived from the very minerals and elements of the earth). Objects made of fibre or other substances that are (hu)man-made through some form of processing or manufacturing are, historically, things I can and do make myself. I don’t tend to buy things I can make (that is, objects I can physically construct – whether or not I could conceptualise and design the object is another issue altogether – and I won’t go there – just yet!). The sort of value I place on Raewyn’s Vessels comes from the fact I have no (known) skills for working with metal, therefore I admire and value the technical skill required for the construction of these objects. The way these Vessels are made is largely unknown to me – they have mystery, and therefore they have interest. Working in education my life is invested in the value and importance of learning so finding out the unknown (ie learning new things) has particular value for me. In a parallel sense (and with the benefit of having seen other objects made by Raewyn), I also place value on the intellectual processes the maker has engaged in to conceptualise, design and make this body of work.
As an object buyer (and occasional maker) I also value the aesthetic qualities (obviously!) of these Vessels that are the product of a range of construction techniques – qualities such as their organic roundness, their differently textured tactile surfaces, their gradation of metallic colour from gun metal grey to silver. Tilting this discussion in different direction, I also place value of these Vessels because of their apparent biological/organic reference and how their construction communicates these references. Part of ‘valuing’ for me is about making connections with other relevant and meaningful things in my life. My lifelong interest in many things scientific and biological means that many things which reference nature tend to get my attention.
As for whether or not the construction techniques used by the maker and the consequent sense of value placed on the brooch affects its visual interest … I’ve probably made a case here to say yes it does, but let me ponder that one with subsequent BOM experiences. Given my confessed bias toward metal-based jewellery, I’ll need to reflect on this and work on the idea across the year. Can I invite other broach wearers to do the same and articulate their thoughts on this blog? In addition, perhaps choose other questions from the list of prompts in the diary and pose other curly discussion topics!
I wasted no time in parading ‘Vessels’ by taking them off to Vinnies Art Box dinner for jade carver Joe Sheehan straight after the brooch change-over.
Found it interesting to wear one of the brooches to a gathering where many there already knew of the Broach of the Month club and knew a number of the artists participating: I hadn’t found myself in a situation like that before. Also, there was a definite interest in jewellery as an art form thus putting a different spin on talk about the work….interest in the materials and techniques used as well as in more aesthetic considerations
Quite different responses were received on my other outings with the brooch. Those who know of my participation in the project were keen to view the latest work and find out about the artist while casual acquaintances made comments in passing about what they liked about it. Many were interested in whether there were three brooches that I had collected together or whether it was actually one piece.
‘Vessels’ has been an easy piece to wear borne out pehaps by the fact that a number of observers didn’t realise that it was on loan and thought it was one of mine.
Oh hi.
I thought I would pop my head out from my studio cave because there are a couple of things I would like to broach. The solitude of the studio is all well and good but it is also very…solitary. And this here blogeroo is supposed to encourage us all to, you know, join in. I hope that all the wearers have received this month’s brooch. Philip I see you have my wee cluster of three; quite tame for you I imagine, but enjoy anyway. I noted the petite Rachel de Lambert clutching a big bloomin box at swap night and I will be interested to see how it fits with her. Will it be a walking, breathing juxtaposition (oh, how we loved that word at jewellery school) of scale? What happens when you put small up against large? Medium? Hopefully Rachel will keep us all posted. And who has ITP, and what adventures will the wearer be taken on with this brooch this month? Which begs the question; do we wear jewellery, or does it wear us?
I do go on. But I am interested in these brooch questions? And in the brooch-ness of it all. That is, how much is the brooch jewellery, in relation to say, a neckpiece or a ring, and how much is it an autonomous object with a pin on the back? Thoughts?
-Raewyn
Nice work Raewyn, very nice,
regards, Conor
I loved wearing this intellectual and most inspiring collection. The pieces brought me back to my environmental surroundings and upbringing on a farm which stretched along the southern banks of the Rakaia Gorge. The rounded rocks along the Rakaia River were always part of my landscape. Homelife was bare feet on the grass and gumboots in the sheering sheds and working areas.
The three pieces that make up the arrangement have quite billiant surface treatments, especially the faux green grass or mossy surface under one of the brooches. The texture, colour and patina of each piece has been carefully thought out. Each piece is to be touched and explored, and the grouping can be reworked in various arrangements. Each piece is a conversation, and a sensory exploration.
Congratulations on your very challenging approach and the inspiring pieces that have evolved. You somehow achieved a feeling of old and contemporary, and an ecological aspiration around that. This is real design thinking.
Best wishes
Jillian de Beer
Month 3
To be honest a Broach Month of fits and starts – got it late and swung into action – loved the texture and colors – & envisaged the way I could wear ‘them’ in a variety of ways. But…put then on several times, but on most of my jackets, they didn’t quite work. Either a tad heavy, or a bit crowded on a slim lapel, so they had a few thwarted outings. Wore them to an A.R.T Trust meeting so they got their outing the other day.
So feel a bit guilty that Broach x3 didn’t spend much time out of the box – didn’t help that I was wearing my leather jacket most of the month because of the cold…. Dan
I liked these because they were sort of masculine. Although there were 3 of them which is a funny way made them less brooch and maybe more button. But they felt very good to wear to a number of jewellery events. Marty Curtis’ Metadecorative opening if the Jewellery Showcase at Sky City. So they were seen on me by many aficionados.
PC
I usually wear quite large and unusual brooches, so a cluster of 3 was fine. Found they looked best on a heavy fabric. Ie red tweed waistcoat, black felt coat. Never wore them one at a time, they needed to be together to ‘show off’ one a texture against another. Many comments – my doctor loved them, thought they looked ‘planetary’. My daughter thought of flower centers. My ceramic students responded to various textures, as they are currently making ceramic brooches. I especially enjoyed the secret mossy green zen garden in the back of one, seen only by the wearer. My choir pals said the reminded them of different notes. Loved wearing them.
Thanks.
22/7/10
Response to the constructions methods
These brooches were very well constructed – they felt robust and easy to take on and off. This is so important, with some of the less robustly constructed ones I have felt nervous about wearing them.
The catches are especially good – neat, functional, and springy. I had no trouble pinning on and taking off various types of fabric. They had an air of quality and inventiveness about them.
BC
Yes Jillian I like this set piece too! A lovely easy to wear collection that can be played with and made different or simple. Nicely made, good materials, no sharp bits, good clasps and not wanting to grab your hand bag strap or car seat belt. Well neigh perfect I’d say!
Thanks Rachel
Likewise, I really love these beautiful trio of ‘shells’ too. They arrived in a wispy little nest, egg like in their container. However, I do have a terrible confession to make. When I received tem I put them in a cluster on my current favourite jacket. I noticed a couple of occasions where the bright silvery one popped its catch. Luckily I noticed it and re-fixed it. On Labour Weekend I wore it to Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins talk at the NZSAG conference and to my horror I found it missing the next day.
I reported my misdeed to Raewyn who kindly said she would replace it. I do feel SO BAD about it. They are such darlings. They have a lunar-like landscape about them with the soft moss-like interior. I would say that they have been one of my favourites.
HEAVENLY!
Christine x
Three ‘Buttons’ which are exceptionally attractive
I was skeptical about wearing three items, but once on they commanded a lot of interest.
‘The golf ball’ was one comment
Worn dropping in a line seemed to work the best.
I got the most interest in Wellington at Nikau Café where the staff all came to look at the work. Well done. I have really enjoyed wearing them for you.
Garth