Pennie Jagiello
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This exhibition presents a body of work suspended within ice revealed as the works melt. Jewellery and objects constructed entirely from man made materials found along the Australian coast investigate that which we discard but will also remain long after we are gone. |
How did you come to making?
I was always making from an early age, starting with mess. I was fascinated by anyone that could make things with their hands. Most of the women in my family were always sewing and knitting; my Dad and Uncle taught us to draw and my grandfather was a carpenter so I was always surrounded by creative people who liked to share their skills. It was an important part of our childhood to use our imaginations to make things.
How do acquire your materials?
From an early age I was always fossicking, picking up anything up that I came across with the thought that I could make something with it. I even used to pick seed beads and sequins from between the floorboards of a hall we danced in as children.
When I was studying Sculpture at VCA my father was in demolition and started to bring home scrap materials so for the next 15 years reclaimed Telecom electrical wire was my signature material. I had also spent many years from an early age picking man made debris off the beach. With this vastly growing collection I decided that I needed to work with these materials in a way that I could express my concerns with the impacts we have on the environment. With this research I am about to complete a Masters of Fine Art at RMIT.
How would you describe your working process?
What I make I is completely informed by what I find. I made a conscious decision a few years ago not to buy any new or virgin materials. There are many things I would like to do with the materials I find however I am aware that different techniques would only add to environmental impacts. Even when I carve I keep every fragment I remove and these tiny pieces also become a part of my work. We create so much waste daily I see no need to work with anything else.
What's your favourite material to work with?
Anything that I find laying around that allows me to explore different ways of working outside of my comfort zone.
How would you describe the relationship between the work and the presentation in this event?
The concept for this event has come about through my Masters research. As every piece of the work is made from materials I have collected from beaches I wanted to work with a presentation that explores the less obvious impacts anthropogenic marine debris has on the environment from shorelines to ocean depths to the frozen abyss highlighting that which remains long after we are gone.
I was always making from an early age, starting with mess. I was fascinated by anyone that could make things with their hands. Most of the women in my family were always sewing and knitting; my Dad and Uncle taught us to draw and my grandfather was a carpenter so I was always surrounded by creative people who liked to share their skills. It was an important part of our childhood to use our imaginations to make things.
How do acquire your materials?
From an early age I was always fossicking, picking up anything up that I came across with the thought that I could make something with it. I even used to pick seed beads and sequins from between the floorboards of a hall we danced in as children.
When I was studying Sculpture at VCA my father was in demolition and started to bring home scrap materials so for the next 15 years reclaimed Telecom electrical wire was my signature material. I had also spent many years from an early age picking man made debris off the beach. With this vastly growing collection I decided that I needed to work with these materials in a way that I could express my concerns with the impacts we have on the environment. With this research I am about to complete a Masters of Fine Art at RMIT.
How would you describe your working process?
What I make I is completely informed by what I find. I made a conscious decision a few years ago not to buy any new or virgin materials. There are many things I would like to do with the materials I find however I am aware that different techniques would only add to environmental impacts. Even when I carve I keep every fragment I remove and these tiny pieces also become a part of my work. We create so much waste daily I see no need to work with anything else.
What's your favourite material to work with?
Anything that I find laying around that allows me to explore different ways of working outside of my comfort zone.
How would you describe the relationship between the work and the presentation in this event?
The concept for this event has come about through my Masters research. As every piece of the work is made from materials I have collected from beaches I wanted to work with a presentation that explores the less obvious impacts anthropogenic marine debris has on the environment from shorelines to ocean depths to the frozen abyss highlighting that which remains long after we are gone.
