Participants (see their HS progress)
- Antonia Boyle
- Aphra Cheesman
- Nina van Duijnhoven
- Jack Hadley
- Fran Leitch
- Nikki Perry
- Amelia Rothwell
- Mia Straka
- Simon Swale
- Susan Videler
- Michelle Wilkinson
- Macarena Bernal
HS6 collaboration video work
WELCOME TO HANDSHAKE 6 (HS6), 2020 – 2021/22
The HS6 two-year programme offered emerging jewellery artists a unique opportunity to develop skills through masterclasses, mentoring, and work development involving experimentation and exhibiting. Iris Eichenberg (US) selected twelve talented artists and paired them with recommended mentors who provided regular feedback and support throughout the two-year program. In 2019, Iris Eichenberg came to Auckland and conducted a masterclass with HS6 artists, igniting various conceptual and design approaches and opportunities. Her public lecture at Objectspace in Auckland drew a full house of enthusiasts.
Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, each HS6 artist was able to continue their research, experimentation, and development online with the assistance of their assigned mentors. The first exhibition opportunity was pre-Covid and curated by Weasel Gallery in Hamilton (now rebranded as Laree Payne Gallery). During Covid, the HS6 artists showcased their work at various exhibitions, including “Signing-In” at Te Auaha, Wellington, and a large, curated exhibition called “CHAINreaction” at the Refinery as part of the first Nelson Jewellery Week.
Throughout the programme, the artists benefited from a series of lectures and workshops on professional ethics, fundraising, communication, and design. They also received valuable training on presenting and promoting their work online through the ON-E masterclass workshop led by Estella Saez (ES).
Despite the obstacles presented by COVID-19, the HS6 artists remained resilient, supporting each other and working together as a team. Their successful funding campaign and the production of a video and catalogue for the final exhibition MORPH at NorthArt in Auckland showcased their extraordinary qualities and demonstrated the power of effective teamwork. Overall, the HS6 program provided a valuable opportunity for emerging artists to develop their skill set and showcase their refined work to a wider audience.
Iris Eichenberg’s masterclass in 2020
HS6 focused primarily on the individual development of each mentee’s art practice, with feedback and assistance from their selected mentor. Their exploration package included research, experimentation, various design processes, and material explorations. The year kicked off with a JEWELcamp, covering expectations, obligations, and professional ethics.
Renowned artist and educator Renee Bevan conducted her influential PUSH-PULL workshop, providing a series of methods for exploring and expanding ideas and designs.
Following the JEWELcamp, a masterclass from Iris Eichenberg equipped HS6 artists with various toolsets of new approaches and opportunities.
HS6 artists at their MORPH opening, Northart, Auckland, August 2022
- (top row:) Maca Bernal, Simon Swale, Susan Videler, Antonia Boyle, Nikki Perry, Jack Hadley, Michelle Wilkinson
- (bottom row:) Fran Leitch, Mia Straka, Nina van Duijnhoven, Aphra Cheesman, Amelia Rothwell
HS6 NEWS & BLOGs:
MINUMENTAL
ex HS6 artists presented their group exhibition MINUMENTAL at Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne as part of the Radiant Pavilion Contemporary Jewellery and Object Biennale 2024. Following its debut at Nelson Jewellery Week (Aotearoa) in 2023, this second iteration...
A Journey
After many false starts, explorations. experimentations and near breakdowns… we got there. It was another wild ride on the runaway bus that is the Handshake Project, and this one- Handshake7, was almost the one that broke the camels back. Overlapping with the tail end...
The end is only the beginning..
Just like that, 2022 has been and gone, and we are already in the 2nd month of the new year. As Dubowski puts it: “We are paper thin. We exist on luck amid the percentages, temporarily. And that’s the best part and the worst part, the temporal factor.” As the years...
The pursuit of efficiency will drain your life of meaning* series 2022
*Oliver Burkeman, Sam Harris podcast #289 Time management for mortals approx 22:29 minutes I’m interested in how we experience, value and record time. As a social medium adornment has the potential to act as catalyst, conduit and communicator in this realm. I invited...
Time to fly!
Sleeves (2020), Detail Cotton, thread, binding. Sleeves (2020), Detail. Sleeves (2020), Detail. Sleeves (2020), Detail. Sheet (2020), sheet, thread. Would you do the HS6 again? 100% yes! Looking back through...
Morph(ed out)
Gathered (2022). Fabric, thread and cord. 1m drop, 350mm width. I have been making these bags throughout the HS6 as space fillers, I used them to gather and hold collections of teeth, hair, rags and dust, but now they are empty! This emptiness now gathers and holds...
Morph report – here and now
We chose Morph as our collective title and theme for this culminating exhibition to embody the transitional and transformative epoch of both the pandemic and Handshake6 on our lives, work and group dynamic.
It’s a wrap.
I wrote my last blog in September 2021. So it’s a wrap (see cover shot of all our names peeled off the wall). Our final show Morph, Aug 27 2022 - Oct 8 2022, at NorthArt in Auckland. We arrived, set-up, and opened. Small turn out for Auckland. I showed my face. This...
Full circle
I began to think about this idea back when Handshake 6 started. Back when the Social uprising in my country had just began. This nonsensical news article hit me in my soft spot I guess. I took me all of two years to get it out of my system. Pearl Molotov, jewellery...
Morph report part I – time based works
Information Age adornment projected through space and time
Morph, the final exhibition.
‘Any group, society, institution, or organisation that encourages women to revile the eccentric, to be suspicious of the new and unusual; to avoid the fervent, the vital, the innovative; to impersonalise the personal, is asking for a culture of dead women.’ Clarissa...
TWO noticeable Jewellery exhibitions in Auckland
MORPH HS6 exhibition, NORTHART, Northcote, Auckland, 30th August – 8th October 2022 ‘MORPH’ represents the final body of work created by the twelve artists of Handshake 6.Aotearoa Jewellery Triennial The first Jewellery Triennial is at Objectspace, Auckland, 10...
Estela Saez masterclass
Being able to relax and enjoy workshops has become a lot easier since I have been in the Handshake programs. Before my very first masterclasses with Iris Eichenberg in February 2020, I hardly slept and was very stressed. Not knowing what to expect, and not...
Finito….
Finito.. the end, done. "Morph".... the culmination of two and a half years of developing our arts practice, the finale, our last exhibition together. I can't believe it has been two and a half years. Time has flown by! What an amazing journey it has been. ...
MORPH exhibition
MORPH HS6 exhibition, NORTHART, Northcote, Auckland, 30th August – 8th October 2022 ‘MORPH’ represents the final body of work created by the twelve artists of Handshake 6. MORPH refers to transformation, this exhibition seeks to demonstrate that quality through the...