Nature Cabinet – Examples from Nature

The exhibition ‘Nature’s Cabinet – Example from Nature’ held by in the Handwerkskammer (Department of Crafts), Munich demonstrates artists who take their inspiration from nature in the fields of glass, ceramic, metal, paper, jewelry and textiles. Using the Paleontology Museum in Munich’s center, an environment already filled with the curiosities of nature’s history the Handwerkskammer has juxtaposed objects of art with natural objects allowing the viewer an alternate way of seeing the two areas of study.

The opening is on the 4th of June at 6:30pm at the Paleontology Museum, Richard Wagner Str. 10, 80333 Munich.

The museum is open Mon-Thurs 8am-4pm, Fri 8am-2pm. Sat, Sun & holidays closed. * Note Sun. 9th the museum is open 8am-2pm.

For further information see http://www.hwk-muenchen.de/galerie

The Lunatic Swing, Munich

– Opening on Tuesday 26th February 7pm.
– Special Opening on 7th March at 5pm (during Schmuck)

Looking past the confines of a given space these six emerging contemporary jewellers will exhibit their work on a transformed landscape. Stretching fabric tight over these traditional forms the play of light swings a delirious dance. The artists involved are all alumni of Munich’s Academy of Fine Art having studied under Prof. Otto Künzli.

Participants:
Attai Chen, Israel
Songho Cho, South Korea
Laura Deakin, Australia
Emma Price, Australia
Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtary, Germany
Melanie Isverding, Germany
The Lunatic Swing Exhibtion installation at the Kunstarkaden, Munich, Germany with contemporary jewellery artists: Attai Chen, Songho Cho, Laura Deakin, Emma Price, Carina Chitsaz-Shoshtary & Melanie Isverding.

This exhibition has been supported by:
LfA Förderbank Bayern & Neuer Schmuck

My press Exhibition, Germany

On Friday the 26th of October at 6pm Gallery Wittenbrink will open Laura Deakin first solo exhibition in Munich. The exhibition will include the newest series of work entitled ‘My press’. To read more and see samples of the work, click here. To read more about Gallery Wittenbrink click here.

 

 

Galerie Ra

On July 9th 2011 Laura Deakin and Marian Hosking celebrated the opening of their joint exhibition at Galerie Ra in Amsterdam. Marian Hosking was the head of department when Laura Deakin studied her undergraduate in Fine Arts with Honours from 2000-03. For further details on the exhibition click here.  To visit Marian Hoskings website click here.

Layered traces, folded spaces solo exhibition

In February 2011 Laura Deakin was proud to have her first solo exhibition at Gallery Funaki, Melbourne. The exhibition received a write up in The Age (Melbourne) Magazine. The Age is a Melbourne based newspaper. To read the article click here. To visit Gallery Funaki’s website click here.

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In recent years, one can now detect a new interest in the pearl: the example of the pearl is reflected not only the traditional functions of jewelry, but also to test new innovative ways of designing with the pearl. The pearl is by its shimmering surface, the regularity of its curvature or – to be just the opposite by the bizarre shapes – and their mysterious origin. Their beauty, their brilliance and their white color, they are left to the attribute of the goddess Venus.

The exhibition of the Galerie Handwerk Munich deals with these unusual forms of organization not only in the medium of jewelry, but also in the installation, the image and the object. The focus, however, is the jewelry. Works by 42 international artists will be presented to give an overview of the various trends in this current issue.

By Example

By example presents a view of Australian contemporary jewellery through the lens of the processes of learning. It draws attention initially to the transference of knowledge not as a didactic method but through the relationship of the mentor to the learner. At the same time it provides a ‘cultural snapshot’ of Australian jewellery through the work of the forty-two artists presented here, a collection of more than two hundred pieces of jewellery.

This exhibition brings together fourteen leading jewellery artists, exemplars of their discipline, and places alongside each of them two artists with whom they have worked and have selected as evolving talents in their field. Interestingly, this is not an exhibition depicting the hierarchy that may be expected in such a relationship, but rather illustrates the symbiotic dynamic that develops when a creative bond is formed between two makers. In this sense examples can be set in many ways – through skill, thinking, visual expression, professionalism, to name a few.

As a collection, these works reflect the distinctive Australian context, which has evolved out of the European tradition of learning from a ‘master’ into one marked by dialogue and exchange. The selection of artists acknowledges the range of learning that one undergoes in the process of becoming an artist, recognising that this is not limited to formal education within an institution.

Looking beyond the curatorial premise of the exhibition, in selecting the established artists, we considered initially those who fulfilled the brief of working in a position of ‘influence’, that is of transferring some kind of knowledge. We recognize that there are many worthy teachers beyond our selection though we also took the presence of a sustained and acknowledged jewellery practice into consideration. In recognising that learning also occurs in less formal, less direct ways, we felt it also important to identify these as equally valuable. Consequently the professor, the tutor, the mentor, the guide, the confidante, the teacher all appear here. And it is through their eyes that you see a new generation of makers.

By example explores the diversities of these relationships – as this is what they indeed are. Each mentor is defined by their own standing and identity in the field of Australian contemporary jewellery and along with that, their ability and commitment to the nurturing of new talent. In selecting them we have thought carefully about the identity of Australian jewellery and about how to represent its diversity. In turn, these mentors have enthusiastically taken on their task, presenting an insight into the creative and spiritual partnership they share with their nominees.

We would like to thank Mr Kazuyuki Takiuchi, the director of the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Itami for inviting us, and all these artists, to present this collection of Australian contemporary jewellery to Japanese audiences. Further we would like to acknowledge the role of Ms Fumiko Tsubo, herself a mentor, and her drive and commitment in enabling the realisation of By example.

Dr Karin Findeis and Bridie Lander, Curators

Treasure Room Australia

Laura Deakin’s making processes employ both deconstructive strategies and illusionary tactics to recontextualise and restyle classical forms of jewellery. Hers is a style that might be described as a jeweller’s expression of magic realism; a poetic and ruptured take on ‘the precious.’ In her series Dishonest Pearls Deakin takes on the pearl strand – the long-term signifier of economic success (actual or aspirational) and turns it on its head. Deakin reinvents the pearl: She uncovers its secrets, dismantles the symbolism, reconfigures its function and in doing so creates something wondrous from what has become mundane.

Roseanne Bartley

12. Erfurter Schmucksymposium

The bicentennial of the Congress of Erfurt offers jewellery makers an interesting starting point. In 1808 the European rulers met in Erfurt and obviously possessed valuable insignias of their power. For thousands of years, jewellery has defined the social status and the identity of its wearer. The local Erfurt jewellery makers Heike Gruber and Felix Lindner as well as the 2007 Erfurt goldsmith of the year, Helen Britton, are organising the 12th international jewellery symposium and inviting seven other international jewellery makers. The group is supposed to inspire, prompt and release energy for individual artistic creation.

Schmuck 2009

SCHMUCK 2009 – The world’s most dynamic contemporary jewellery exhibition will come to the RMIT Gallery from June 5 – July 18 this year. It is the first time this prestigious exhibition will be shown in Australia and only the fourth time it has been shown outside Munich in its 50-year history.
SCHMUCK 2009 will feature the work of 60 jewellery designers chosen from a field of 600 entries from 123 countries. The finalists include three Melbourne jewellers Professor Robert Baines, Laura Deakin and Julia deVille.
For lovers of contemporary jewellery, this is not to be missed.