2012 exhibition by tenmoregirls  glory box  is coming soon and I have nearly finished making.  It has been another real learning experience. Carving ebony is an interesting but painful experience. I love ebony, its colour and texture but unfortunately ebony dust can make you feel very uncomfortable when inhaled. Even with good ventilation and dust mask on your face some small particles of dust always gets in. I find that whenI am working on the piece for a while this fine dust irritates my nose and throat and often skin on my hands too. For this reason I have decided that body of work for this exhibition will consist only three pieces. These three pieces are uniformed in shape and function but vary in minor design details.

Below you can see what my last task is to do…….which is stamping my hallmark on

‘THE YEAR WAS 2006 ‘

An exhibition of 100 jewellery pieces made in 2006

19th – 30th June 2012 CELEBRATION DRINKS – Saturday 23rd June 4-6pm

Studio 20/17

6b/2 danks st   |   waterloo   |   nsw  2017   |   australia + 61 2 9698 7999 open tues – sat 11 – 6pm

2006. It was a common year that started on a Sunday. John Howard was PM and Pluto was no longer classified as a planet. It  is often bandied about that art is a reflection of our society;  intrigued, we set out to find what 2006 might have looked like in terms  of contemporary jewellery. 100 jewellers from across the  globe have been invited to present one piece of jewellery they made 6  years ago. Presented as a salon hang, this exhibition will showcase an  incredibly diverse array of jewellery and will give an overall snapshot  of what these jewellers were thinking, making and the materials they  were using all those years ago in 2006.

Alice  Potter, Alice Whish, Alida Cappelletta, Amy Renshaw, Andrew Welch,  Barbara Cotter, Bernadette Trainor, Beatriz Ruiz, Birgit Laken, Claire  McArdle, Coconut Lu, Bridget Kennedy, Danielle Butters, Danielle  Sweeney, Deborah Rudolph, Diane Beevers, Elfrun Lach, Elfi Spiewack,  Emma Fielden, Erin Timony, Francine Haywood, Heidemarie Herb, Helen Mok,  Ilse-Marie Erl, InSync Design, Jacomien Labuschagne, Jandy Pannell,  Jane Millard, Jane Pollard, Jane Reynolds, Jasmine Matus, Jennifer  Gehbauer, Jessica McMullen, Jessica Morrison, Jessica Page, Judy McCaig,  Julie Usel, Julie Kiefel, Justine Austine, Karen Thompson, Karin  Jakobsson, Karina Hunnerup, Karola Torkos, Kate Barton, Kath Inglis,  Katrina Freene, Kelly McCallum, Kim Ebbeck, Linda Blair, Linda Van  Niekerk, Lisa Furno, Luke-John Matthew Arnold, Madeleine Clark, Manuela  Gandini, Mark Vaarwerk, Melanie Ihnen, Melinda Young, Melissa Cameron,  Mervi Kurvinen, Michelle Kelly, Michelle Taylor, Minnette Michael, Mirca  Maffi, Miriam Andraus Pappalardo, Nadine Smith, Naomi Schwartz, Paula  Rodrigues, Phoebe Porter, Rachel Bell, Radka Passianova, Renee Damiani,  Robi Szalay, Rudee Tancharoen, Sandy Marker, Shan Shan Mok, Sharon  Fitness, Sharon Massey, Shauna Mayben, Shimara Carlow, Sian Edwards,  Simon Cottrell, Sonya Scott, Stefanie Koelbel, Stephen Gallagher, Susan  Frisch, Susanna Dwyer, Suzanne Esser, Szilvia Gyorgy, Tatjana Panyoczki,  Teresa Faris, Vernon Bowden, Vicki Mason, Ximena Natanya Briceño, Zoe  Brand

Glory Box is the 2012 exhibition from Sydney based contemporary jewellery collective, tenmoregirls and I must say at first moment I wasn’t very excited about the theme as I don’t have real attachment or interest in this custom.  However, after some research I found a few interesting facts.For example, glory box originally served the purpose of security for the bride in case she should leave her husband due to mistreatment or to help her out at the beginning of their marriage. Also, traditionally, content of the box could be only used by the bride or later on by her daughters, however, this regulation was abused later on.

While researching origins of glory box/hope chest I also came across some disturbing articles related to dowry in India. This reading had such an impact on me that I have based my whole work for glory box on concept of fear and protection of young brides.

I have chosen to create an object beautiful and feminine on outside with masculine components on inside to celebrate traditional concept of marriage.  I have carefully selected materials to highlight simplicity, contrasts and purity to create tool for protection – daggers made of an ebony and silver. Each of the daggers when not used appears as a decorative object that only contributes to a home with its beauty. However, when needed this object transforms into dagger that bride could use for her protection.

Few links below are about dowry in India. Check it out and see for yourself. My words cannot describe what I felt.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/50_million_missing/discuss/72157602121871114/

http://subversify.com/2010/01/20/the-acceptable-abuse-women-and-dowries-in-india/

http://freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/2012/06/05/bride-burning/

… and to give you little idea what the daggers will look like, here are some progress images…

I made 7 pieces for the exhibition. I must say I have got absolutely excited by this theme and I hope that I will have a time to make more pieces like this in a future.

So what did I make? I did make four metal “sound instruments”; music ball, rain-dropper, two hollow shapes hitting each other and hollow object with wooden stick. However, after completing these objects I felt, I need to explore the idea of making something out of wood. After all, wood is a material that has been used for production of musical instruments for AGES! So I made three instruments out of Salomon Island Black wood. Such a beautiful experience! The wood itself has such a magnificent colour, smell and feel. It has a soul. The sound that it produces is so distinctive and vibrant. Each of the instrument consists two pieces of different shapes that are hitting each other. To my biggest surprise I realized that different shape produces different sound. This truth might be obvious to anybody musically involved, but for me, who just got engaged in creating musical instruments it was like the biggest discovery in the world of sound. As a result of this I tried to pass this knowledge to absolutely everyone who came to our opening night. I guess some of you liked my presentation as I sold two of my pieces during first 10 minutes of the night. Later on, I was also contacted by sound engineer who was visiting our exhibition. He kindly took recording of my instruments and soon I will be able to add it to this blog so you can hear it! So stay tuned! For more photos of “sound instruments” look into object “gallery”

Thank you all for coming to support us and share a drink with us on opening night. I also would like to thank you for your valuable feedback regarding to selected space, installation and our work. One of the most warming feedback was that everybody’s work looked absolutely stunning!

For those who didn’t have a chance to come and check it out, 10 girls. 10 colours. exhibition was consisting work based on ten different colours that are representing aging, hemoglobin, nature, power, sound and aura just to name a few. Exhibition run for three weeks and during that time we had two kids workshops. For the kids workshops we have prepared craft and art activities to entertain kids and to get them involved in making process that we do every day. It was heaps of fun….and not just for kids (check out photos from the workshop). We are hoping to do this next year again and maybe involve community on even grater scale. Any suggestions and ideas how you would like to be involved are welcome.

photos from opening night and kids workshop