EXPLORING THE SPECTRUM In the catalogue for the seminal jewellery exhibition, “Flux & Fire”, jeweller Barbara Jardine writes: “Jewellery is many things – a statement of power, wealth, status, personality and fashion. It can be frivolous, decorative, sculptural, symbolic and protective. Jewellery can be made from anything, be it precious metals, paper, plastic, or steel.” Jardine aptly captures the full spectrum of all that jewellery is: the reasons we wear it, the materials of which it can be made, the meaning that can be derived from it. Spectrum pulls together the collections of eight diverse jewellers who work in a variety of media, from precious metals and gemstones to wood and plastic. Their approaches to making are also quite individual, as are their finished pieces. Of course, gemstones, which are integral to much jewellery, come in all the colours of the spectrum, and this is the starting point for Sarah May-Marshall’s juicy collection of cocktail rings. Marshall incorporates highly faceted stones in a range of colours from amethyst to citrine in her playful and sparkly rings. Rachel Ross draws inspiration from either end of the spectrum through the use of black and white or transparency. In her pieces she incorporates oxidised and polished silver, pearls, crystals, slate and black coral, to, as she says, “capture... the infinite array that exists beyond the conventional spectrum.” Jade Drakes’ work employs a range of unexpected materials as well as diverse techniques and approaches to create work which is daring and exciting! In one brooch, she uses roughly carved and knotted wood, jewellery saw-blades and a semi-precious stone called a blue druzy to create a whimsical piece. Barbara Jardine continues her exploration of the sea urchin shell, by creating dazzling bottle-stoppers which are layered in gold or silver leaf, lacquers, coloured resins and fine gemstones. She too draws on a wide range of materials and techniques in her practice, and for Spectrum, she focuses on, as she says, “pure, transparent colour through the use of stones and resins in rainbow hues.”
Jasmine Thomas-Girvan explores the “strange and fantastic” domain of the wild woman in her Spectrum collection. In one piece, satin ribbons in the rainbow spectrum of colours stream from the open palms of a hybrid of So-Wei and the Virgin Mary. In another, carved open palms seem to present wearers with an offering. The simple yet unexpected shapes of Janice Derrick’s work, coupled with her interplay of textures, finishes and gemstones, make for elegant, dynamic and contemporary pieces of jewellery. In one brooch, for example, Derrick presents a cut silver disc with a jagged inner lip of highly polished silver, contrasted by a matt surface (the face of the brooch) and a gold outer-lip. Tiny discs of coloured felt bring pops of intense colour to the jewellery of Ashraph, who designs pieces that eschew ideas of function in favour of a visual aesthetic that is architectural and linear; function is second to material choice and form. In a unique twist, Sonya Sanchez-Arias makes the disposable precious in her collection for Spectrum. Sanchez-Arias recycles and re-imagines plastic forks, meshes and other plastic items – considering and making based on the possibilities of what they could be, rather than getting stuck in their seeming mundanity. By bringing together an eclectic group of jewellers, the exhibition, Spectrum, offers a diverse and exciting collection of interpretations and approaches to communicating all that jewellery is and can be. – Mariel Brown
JASMINE THOMAS-GIRVAN ‘ she is the life/death/life force, she is the incubator. She is intuition, she is far-seer, she is deep listener, she is loyal heart. She encourages humans to remain multi-lingual: fluent in the languages of dream, passion and poetry. She whispers from night dreams… She is ideas, feeling urges and memory. She has been lost and half forgotten for a long time. She is the source, the light, the night, the dark, and daybreak. The birds which tell us secrets belong to her... she lives where the dead come to be kissed and the living send their prayers... She lives on poetry and percussion and singing... People may ask for evidence, for proof of her existence. they are essentially asking for proof of the psyche. Since we are the psyche, we are also the evidence. Each and everyone of us is the evidence of not only Wild woman’s existence, but of her condition in the collective. We are the proof of this ineffable female numen. Our existence parallels hers.’ – Women who run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
ASHRAPH Parotia, the collection, invites its wearer like the bird to perform, but only on special occasions. Found deep in the jungles of New Guinea the male Wahnes’s Parotia, a Bird of Paradise, engages in shape-shifting, color shaking: dancing in a display of before hidden iridescent feathers as his breast plumes form a skirt that is whirled and adored by an onlooking female of the species he hopes to woo. Be warned! – Sterling Henderson
JADE DRAKES The concept of Spectrum is well - suited to my work. From natural fibers and materials to an array of warm and cool metals of varying textures, I attempt to explore new components to make my jewelry more expressive. While most jewelry falls within a set area of description, I push these boundaries to broaden the spectrum of what jewelry can be.
RACHEL ROSS Chiaroscuro is a word I had in mind when creating this collection. Light and dark is a spectrum in itself, whose meaning is vast and encompasses both black and white, the visible and the invisible. The extremes are what pushed me forward with these new pieces. I
used
primarily
oxidized
silver
with pearls, crystals, slate, black coral materials that appear to have no colour and yet evoke strong moods. Although we often think of a spectrum as an array of colour and light, what I have sought to capture is the infinite array
that
exists
conventional spectrum.
beyond
the
SARAH-MAY MARSHALL Spectrum - The wonderful colours that surround us in daily life and can also be found in beautiful natural gemstones inspired my Juicy Jewel rings. My two - part collection uses cushion cut precious gems combined with silver and golds in a simple geometric exposed setting. I’ve also designed some fun cocktail Claw set rings that are individually and uniquely designed around the natural curves of the each stone - a couple ametrines on display that give a perfect spectrum of amethyst blending into a citrine.
JANICE DERRICK This collection of work speaks of the internal and external struggle we all deal with. The spectrum of daily detail we must manage, each of us trying to balance our limitations with the challenges life presents.
BARBARA JARDINE In acknowledgement of this year’s exhibition title, Spectrum, I have continued to experiment with Nature’s exquisitely patterned sea urchins, making stoppers for hand-blown glass bottles and jewels, with particular emphasis on pure, transparent colour through the use of stones and resins in rainbow hues.
SONYA SANCHEZ-ARIAS The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities - Stephen Hawking Definition: spec路trum - noun - the whole range of ideas, qualities, situations, etc. that are possible If this work has a mission, it is this: To see the beauty and potential of all things, and the spectrum of possibilities that a different point of view can create. Whatever the material or the original purpose, it can be transformed into something new and unexpected with a new and viable reason for existing.
PUBLISHED BY Yasmin Hadeed and Y Art & Framing Gallery 26 Taylor Street, Woodbrook Trinidad and Tobago Tel: (868) 628-4165
PHOTOGRAPHY Michele Jorsling
DESIGN AND LAYOUT Johnny Gonsalves
LOGO DESIGN Nadia Huggins Printed by Office Authority Print Division Š 2016, All Rights Reserved.
Y ART & FRAMING GALLERY 26 Taylor Street, Woodbrook Trinidad and Tobago Tel: (868) 628-4165