Briny
Lisa West
25 March – 22 April 2023
This summer I figured out how to snorkel without swallowing too much sea water so I could participate in a citizen science project on Rakino Island which involves swimming a coastal transect and counting rocky reef fishes, then tracking the collected data over time. It's quite reassuring to float above beds of mustard brown seaweeds watching small fish nosing around in the kelp.
These cameo form brooches are loosely inspired by nudibranchs, flamboyantly coloured soft-bodied molluscs who inhabit tide pools and rocky reefs. I've yet to see one around the Rakino coastline, but I'm optimistic that I will eventually.
1 Brooch sodalite, silver; 55 x 38 x 13mm
$700
5 Brooch mother-of-pearl, silver; 50 x 35 x 12mm
$700
6 Brooch jasper, silver; 51 x 43 x 7mm
$700
9 Brooch mother-of-pearl, silver; 54 x 33 x 8mm
$700
Lisa West was born in Tauranga and began her jewellery training in 1986. She studied various aspects of jewellery design and production before gaining a Certificate in Craft and Design in 1989, and a Diploma of Applied Arts in 1991, from Hungry Creek Art and Craft School.
After moving to Auckland in 1993 West began to make flame worked glass beads under the tutelage of glass artist Peter Viesnik, and included these in her work to superb effect.
West has been able to create jewellery full time since 1994 and her style is now easily recognisable. She references the natural world in every piece – necklaces strewn with blossoms, brooches harbouring intricately engraved moths, and beads with the vivid markings of snake skin have long been a part of her oeuvre.
Many of West’s works are exquisitely detailed while other pieces retain a timeless simplicity of form, allowing the beauty of the materials – primarily silver, glass, stone and shell – to speak for themselves.
Lisa West has exhibited her work throughout New Zealand and internationally.