And so we reach the end of the Handshake 4 journey…
A journey that’s involved emails, messages and video conversations sent over a distance of more than 13,463 kms.
It’s involved time a difference of 19 hours with one rising for the day and the other concluding their day.
It’s involved one sitting in a singlet and the other wrapped up for winter.
It’s involved hard questions being asked and answered (or, in my case, attempted to be answered).
It’s involved discussions of materials, techniques, and concepts.
It’s involved the imparting of knowledge and experience.
It’s involved direction and guidance.
It’s involved getting hands dirty.
Opportunities like the Handshake project are few and far between. To be paired with a maker and artist of the calibre of Vincent Pontillo-Verrastro has been an incredible experience.
Karl Jung said, “the meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” The meeting of my fellow Handshake 4’ers, their mentors, and our master-class tutors has definitely transformed me and my making.
Thank you Peter Deckers, Hilda Gascard, Creative New Zealand, Tanel Veenre, Gabby O’Connor… and, of course, Vincent Pontillo-Verrastro.
