I was recently invited to present some work with Wellington’s
Occupation: Artist where they
presented a combination of my You’d
and Prolong Button-Hole Brooches in
their window space, along with some of my images, created with the help of
Left-Field, that demonstrate wearers responses.
Previously, I have been drawn to the creative atmosphere of
Wellington, especially the fantastic community of jewelers that practice there,
so I was thrilled by the invitation and although disappointed that I couldn't be there myself I was thankful for jeweler Nadine Smiths gracious install of
my work. The Occupation: Artists have had a working studio and exhibition space through the Urban Dream
Brokerage since about April and have been located in the Grand Arcade, Willis Street. While there,
they have used its large window to their advantage, intriguing the regular passers-by,
Nadine stating that they have had quite a different audience from usual gallery
spaces due to its location. This is exciting as one of the challenging objects
of presenting contemporary jewellery is exposing it to those that aren’t aware
of it. Nadine was thrilled to tell me my work was well received and that a number
of the people who have seen their shows were sad they were leaving because it
enlivened the arcade.
Letting Space’s Urban Dream Brokerage, who has made this all
possible, is an agency that temporarily unites innovative art projects with
vacant property spaces and is curated by Mark Amery and Sophie Jerram. UDB’s project
6 is Occupation: Artist and time is up for them in the Grand Arcade but they are
currently excited about relocating. Nadine recently told me, “We have found
another space but not with window frontage so we may have to work a little
harder to lure people in. It has natural light and will be a great work space”.
I am interested to see how the next space changes their emphasis and definitely
looking forward to seeing what they do.
Occupation: Artists
Sarah Read, Vivien Atkinson, Nadine Smith and Kelly McDonald
Images courtesy of Nadine Smith
