Occupy Crossley St


Kelly McDonald, Lock Plate 1 & Big Bolter, 2015, mild steel, 24ct gold, and brass, mild steel. 111 x 52 x 3mm and 115 x 41 x 10mm. Image: Juliet Black

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Various businesses along Crossley St

Crossley St
Melbourne 3000

1-6 September
Viewable 24hrs

Opening Tue 1 September, 6-8pm

 We are a diverse group from Wellington with a passion for contemporary jewellery and a determination to make our art and get it out there.

In the interests of reaching a new audience we are exhibiting in and around non-art-related establishments in Crossley Street (coincidentally also home to Gallery Funaki).

Check out our gentle invasion of the shopfronts and streetscape of this classic Melbourne lane, including:

·       Blonde Venus
·       Charles Edward, Master Shirt Maker
·       East End Den
·       Herbert & Mason
·       Madam Virtue
·       The Paperback Bookshop

For a full venue list and more information see https://occupationartist.wordpress.com/

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Artists Vivien Atkinson, Becky Bliss, Peter Deckers, Kelly McDonald, Amelia Pascoe, Sarah Read, Jane Ritchie, Nadine Smith, Caroline Thomas

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Amelia Pascoe, Principia, 2014, brooch, aluminium, brass, 18ct gold,
90 x 115 x 30 mm

Vivien Atkinson Vitae Servitium (a life of service), 2014, silver plate,
dimensions various to 400 x 600 x 100mm

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About the Artists

Vivien Atkinson was born in Melbourne but left Australia in 1979 for a series of overseas postings through her husband’s employment.  Wellington has now become home and the permanence has allowed her to finally tackle a tertiary education. Starting in 2000 a BFA (Massey), MFA (RMIT), and a BAppA (Whitireia) were accomplished. 
She has continued to work alongside Peter Deckers at Whitireia teaching contextual studies and joined ex-Whitireia students in two groups, TheSeeHere and Occupation: Artist which give her opportunities to show her eclectic practice.

Becky Bliss graduated from Whitireia New Zealand in 2010. Her work looks at traces of the past using subtle layering evoking memories what has been before, with her Palimpsest and Pentimento series. And more recently the Penumbra series which looked at spaces created around the shadows of simple shapes. She was a participant in Handshake 1, in the New Zealand/German Wunderrüma exhibition, and recently an exhibitor in Schmuck 2015 in Munich and Prague.

Peter Deckers was born in the Netherlands and completed his early jewellery training and education there. He immigrated to New Zealand in 1985 and completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at Elam, Auckland University, in 2003. 
A senior art tutor at Whitireia NZ, Deckers is both a contemporary artist and a craftsperson who exhibits with dealer galleries throughout New Zealand and internationally. His practice extends to curatorial projects, notably the Handshake mentoring project, now in its second iteration, which pairs emerging NZ jewellers with their artist heroes from around the world. Handshake2.com

Kelly McDonald lives in Wellington after moving from Australia ten years ago. Her jewellery focuses around the exploration of materials and their previous human interventions, often as a counterpoint to mass production, built in obsolescence and 3-D printers. She is a jewellery tutor at Whitireia New Zealand and a participant in Handshake 2, an internationally recognised mentor and exhibition programme.

Trained in the sciences, and with a long career in science-based organisations, Amelia Pascoe formally embarked on her artist career in 2010. She graduated from Whitireia New Zealand with a Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design, majoring in contemporary jewellery in 2012. Her work straddles the boundaries of object and adornment. The allure of things elusive is a recurring theme. In 2013, Amelia undertook a six-week residency, with Fabrizio Tridenti. Ruudt Peters is her current conspirator through Handshake2. Her work was included in Wunderruma – a recent survey of New Zealand jewellery, and is held in public and private collections. www.ameliapascoe.co.nz

Sarah Read was born in the UK and moved to Wellington in 1996. After completing a BFA (Hons) she spent 20 years in the IT industry before kick-starting her life with Whitireia’s Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design, majoring in contemporary jewellery. Her work manifests variously as performance, participatory projects (often with an element of social practice) and jewellery/objects.
In 2011-13 she was paired with Iris Eichenberg in the Handshake mentoring project, and in 2013 she co-founded Occupation: Artist, a studio, project space and critique group for like-minded jewellers. sarahread.com

Jane Ritchie is based on the East Coast of the United States where she teaches Metals in the 3D department of Old Dominion University. She received her BFA in Metalsmithing and sculpture from Old Dominion University in 2009 and continued on to get her MFA at Cranbrook Academy of Art, finishing in 2012.
Ritchie is also an active participant in the jewelry and contemporary art field working out of her studio in Norfolk Virginia. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally as well as participating in residencies overseas. janeritchie.com

Nadine Smith is a Wellington-based nurse and artist . She explores  both self and society using a diverse range of materials in her creative practice.  
Medical and other recycled paraphernalia, when used out of context can create a tension between the familiar and the unknown. Transformed into objects and jewellery,  pieces explore the relationships between the decorative and the original function of the materials.   The works aim to intrigue, inviting the audience to reflect and make connections from their own life experiences. nadinesmith.co.nz

Caroline Thomas
Born in South East London to Kiwi parents in the 1960s, I moved to Wellington, New Zealand in 2007. I came to contemporary jewellery late in life, completing a BAppA in Jewellery Design from Whitireia NZ in 2012, after having spent many years as a freelance image researcher both in the UK and New Zealand. Now I have found my 'thing', I am desperately trying to make up for all those years I have spent not making jewellery. carolinethomas.co.nz